𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The Trump administration announced its new trade policy and its tariff plan on Thursday, just hours before the August 1 trade deadline.

On Thursday night, the Trump White House announced that a “universal” tariff for goods coming into U.S. will remain at 10 percent. That is the same level that President Donald Trump set during his “Liberation Day” even in early April when he first announced the tariffs.

However, that 10 percent rate will only apply to countries with a trade surplus — in other words, countries to which the U.S. exports more than it imports.

A senior administration official told the Associated Press that most countries have trade surpluses with the U.S.

Countries with a trade deficit with the U.S. will be subject to an at least 15 percent tariff under the new policy. Approximately 40 countries’ goods will be subject to that rate. For most of the countries that were subjected to Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs levied in April, that rate will be lower than what they were previously paying, though it will be higher for a small group of nations.

More than a dozen countries will be tariffed at more than a 15 percent rate. According to an administration official, those nations have the highest trade deficits with the U.S.

“President Trump is using tariffs as a necessary and powerful tool to put America First after many years of unsustainable trade deficits that threaten our economy and national security,” the White House said in a statement.

The new tariff policy will not go into effect on Friday. Trump has delayed the tariffs for another week, until August 7, reportedly to give U.S. Customs and Border Protection time to make changes in how it policies incoming goods and to collect the new duties from imports.