Trump says US officials will send letters within weeks over trade

DUBAI: US President Donald Trump said on Friday that over the next two to three weeks US officials will be sending letters to countries outlining “what they will be paying to do business in the United States.”

Trump, speaking in the capital of the United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi on the last stage of a four-day tour of Gulf states, did not clarify further what that meant.

China and the United States announced a truce in their trade war on Monday after talks in Geneva, which Trump mentioned in his Abu Dhabi remarks along with a separate trade deal with Britain.

“At a certain point over the next two to three weeks I think (US Treasury Secretary) Scott (Bessent) and (US Commerce Secretary) Howard (Lutnick) will be sending letters out…telling people what they’ll be paying to do business in the United States.”

He said countries could appeal it and that US officials would not be able to meet with all the “150 countries that want to make a deal.”

The US also agreed a limited bilateral trade agreement with Britain last week, which leaves in place Trump’s 10% tariffs on British exports, while cutting higher tariffs on steel and cars.

Abu Dhabi was Trump’s last stop on a Gulf tour focused on business deals worth hundred of billions of dollars that could boost the US economy and create jobs.