Africa-Press – Malawi. In a move that could reshape trade relations with more than 100 countries, President Donald Trump said Tuesday he plans to impose a broad tariff of “a little over 10%” on goods from smaller trading nations, with African and Caribbean countries topping the list.
“We’ll probably set one tariff for all of them,” Trump told reporters, referring to the sweeping plan that would apply a uniform tax rate across numerous nations.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick clarified that the targets of this tariff expansion would primarily be countries in Africa and the Caribbean, regions with relatively low trade volume with the United States. Their economic weight, he acknowledged, makes them “relatively insignificant” in efforts to reduce global trade imbalances, a key objective of the administration.
This latest move comes amid a wider trade push by the U.S. government. Over the past month, the Trump administration has issued tariff letters to about two dozen countries and the European Union, announcing rate hikes scheduled to take effect on August 1. Most of these match the steep duties rolled out in April, which triggered market volatility and prompted a temporary 90-day negotiation window that closed on July 9.
Trump signaled additional tariffs are on the horizon. “Probably” by the end of the month, the president said, pharmaceutical imports will be taxed, part of a strategy aimed at encouraging domestic production. He added that companies would be granted a year to build U.S. factories before higher rates kick in.
Computer chips, he said, will follow a similar path: “start out at a lower tariff rate,” then ramp up over time.
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