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Jul 8, 2025  |  
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 | Remer,MN
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President Donald Trump shared letters Monday informing governments in Japan and South Korea that he’s levying 25% tariffs on their imports to the U.S., the first in an anticipated slew of tariff notices the administration is expected to send out before its self-imposed tariff pause ends Wednesday—though the letter suggests the rates could still change again.

Trump posted two nearly identical letters on his Truth Social account, which were addressed to Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, informing them the Trump administration will start charging a 25% tariff on their imports starting August 1.

The letters say the 25% tariffs will be on top of any sector-specific tariffs the U.S. levies—such as those on steel—and that they could change in the future, saying the Trump administration will raise their tariffs if the other countries impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, and the administration will conversely “perhaps consider an adjustment to this letter” if South Korea or Japan eliminate their tariffs and trade barriers on U.S. goods.

South Korea’s 25% tariff rate is the same rate that Trump initially levied on the country’s goods during his April 2 “Liberation Day” announcement—which has been temporarily lowered to 10%—while Japan’s rate is one percent higher than the 24% tariffs Trump initially imposed on the country’s goods.

The letters both are instances of Trump imposing new tariff rates on the countries without reaching a formal trade agreement—as the administration did with the U.K. and Vietnam—informing Japan and South Korea that their trading relationships with the U.S. have been “far from reciprocal.”

The Trump administration is expected to send many more letters to other countries in the coming days imposing new tariff rates, before the initial 90-day pause on Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs ends Wednesday.

“These Tariffs may be modified, upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your Country,” Trump said in his letters to the Japanese and South Korean leaders.

This story is breaking and will be updated.