U.S. President Donald Trump stated that he would apply a single reciprocal tariff rate of just over 10% to small countries, including those in Africa. The White House plans to send relevant letters to the affected countries soon.
According to the White House press pool, President Trump discussed this plan after returning to Washington from his schedule in Pittsburgh on the 15th (local time) when he met with reporters. President Trump noted, "I plan to send the tariff letters soon," stating that "the single reciprocal tariff rate is just over 10%."
Earlier, President Trump sent letters specifying the reciprocal tariff rate targeting 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea, on the 7th, and warned that reciprocal tariffs would be imposed starting on the 1st of next month. He reaffirmed this schedule, stating that additional trade negotiations are currently underway with 5 to 6 countries.
President Trump also answered questions related to Ukraine during the day. He clarified, "The weapons the U.S. has agreed to provide to Ukraine have already been shipped," reaffirming his position that there would be no deployment of U.S. troops to Ukraine.