Trump says India and other countries will soon learn what 'they have to pay' to trade with US

With his self-imposed July 9 deadline for "Liberation Day" tariffs looming, US President Donald Trump on Friday (Jun 27) said that his administration will soon notify India and other countries about "what they have to pay" to continue trading with the United States "over the next week and a half or so". Trump's suspenseful remarks come just hours after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that trade talks with various nations could continue to September.

What did Trump say about tariffs?

Talking to reporters, the President of the United States (POTUS) Trump, said that over the next 7-10 days, America would send out letters telling countries how much they have to pay to continue trade with the US. "At a certain point, over the next week and a half or so, or maybe before, we’re going to send out a letter. We talked to many other countries, and we are just going to tell them what they have to pay to do business in the United States. And it's going to go very quickly," he said.

He also said that he sent the letter because there were "200 countries" US had to negotiate with and that his administration couldn't do that.

Meanwhile, Trump was upbeat about trade prospects with other countries, especially India and China. "We made a deal with China. … We're going to be trading in China. That’s going to come a little bit down the road, but we're going to be trading in China," he said. On India, he said, "we're going to reach a deal where we have the right to go in and trade".

Yet, a senior Indian official told Reuters Thursday that negotiations remain stuck on several points, and no final deal is imminent.

So far, Washington has reached a finalised trade agreement only with the United Kingdom, while talks with other major partners — including the European Union, Japan, and South Korea — remain unresolved.

Trump-Canada tensions rise

However, Trump has simultaneously reopened another front in his trade war, abruptly halting discussions with Canada following Ottawa's announcement of a digital services tax aimed largely at American tech giants.

"We have just been informed that Canada, a very difficult Country to TRADE with … has just announced that they are putting a Digital Services Tax on our American Technology Companies, which is a direct and blatant attack on our Country," Trump posted on Truth Social.

"Based on this egregious tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately."