Trump says baseline tariff rates for most countries will be in the 15-20% range

President Trump on Monday said the tariff rate for most countries that don’t reach individual trade deals with the U.S. will be “somewhere in the 15 to 20% range,” different from the 15% to 50% range he floated only last week. 

Asked about a tariff rate “for the world,” as Mr. Trump put it, the president responded, “I would say it’ll be somewhere in the 15 to 20% range.” The U.S. president made the remarks seated alongside U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland, as Mr. Trump visits his golf courses there and meets with European leaders.

The U.S. and U.K. have already reached a trade agreement, and over the weekend, after meeting with European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the two leaders announced a trade deal between the U.S. and the EU. 

A Trump administration deadline of Aug. 1 for other countries to reach trade deals with the U.S. is rapidly approaching. Without an individual deal, Mr. Trump says most countries’ products will see a flat tariff rate. 

“I just want to be nice. I would say in the range of 15 to 20%,” Mr. Trump said Monday, adding, “probably one of those two numbers.”

But as recently as Wednesday, Mr. Trump floated a higher range, between 15% and 50%. Mr. Trump, who in April said the U.S. had 200 trade deals with other nations, has since said there are too many countries for individual trade deals with all of them and the U.S. will have “simple” tariffs for “most” countries. 

“We have over 200 countries, people don’t realize, that’s a lot of, that’s a lot of deals … that would be too much for anybody,” the president said Wednesday. 

Tariffs are paid for by the importing business to the U.S. government, and are not directly paid by a foreign company’s government or company. Companies may pass along those higher expenses to U.S. consumers.