TMTPOST -- U.S.   President Donald Trump on   Monday suggested sort of flexibility after   he decided to   extend   his July   9   deadline for   reciprocal   tariffs   to the start of next month.

Credit：Xinhua News Agency

Trump at Monday afternoon signed   an executive order, delaying   the   tariff deadline on Wednesday   to August   1. "I have determined, based on additional information and recommendations from various senior officials, including information on the status of discussions with trading partners, that it is necessary and appropriate to extend the suspension effectuated by Executive Order 14266 until 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on August 1, 2025,"   Trump   said in   the order   released by   the White House.

The executive order effectively extended the July 9 deadline   by more than three weeks. Trump said in a social media post on April 9 that he has authorized a 90-day pause and "a substantially lowered reciprocal tariff"   of 10% during this period, both effective immediately. The decision was made as more than 75 countries have called the U.S. to negotiate a solution to trade, trade barriers, tariffs, currency manipulation, and non-monetary tariffs, and these countries have not retaliated against the U.S., Trump wrote.

Trump   later   Monday at the White House   said the new August 1   deadline is not exactly set in stone, calling the deadline "firm   but   not 100% firm."   "If they   [ countries ]   call up and they, say, would like to do something a different way, we ’ re going to be open to that," he told reporters.

Trump on Monday   posted   letters   dictating tariffs   on   14   countries,   ranging from 25%   to 40%. The U.S.   will impose these   new tariffs on   all   imports   from    Japan, South Korea,   Kazakhstan, Malaysia,Tunisia,   South   Africa, Bosnia and   Herzegovina,   Indonesia, Bangladesh,   Serbia, Thailand,   Cambodia,   Laos and Myanmar, starting on August 1, separating from all existing sectoral   tariffs, and goods transshipped to evade a higher tariff will be subject   to that higher tariff.  

Companies in Japan or South Korea   will   be   exempted   from   the new tariffs if they decide   to build or manufacture   goods in the United States,   Trump said   in his letters   posted on   his social media Truth Social   Monday.   "If for any reason you decided   to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever   the number you   choose to raise   them by,   will be added onto the 25% that   we charge,"he warned.

Trump at   the White   House said for   the most part he was   content to simply imposing tariffs   on trading   partners, though he implied   he was still negotiating   with them. "We ’ ve made a deal with United Kingdom, we ’ ve made a deal with China, we ’ ve made a deal — we ’ re close to making a deal with India," Trump said. "Others we met with, we don ’ t think we ’ re going to be able to make a deal. So we just send them a letter."  

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday said the Trump administration   would make several   announcement about   trade   in the next 48 hours. He said in a CNBC   interview that   foreign trade officials are rushing to make deals with the United States before the previous   deadline of July 9.

"We ’ ve had a lot of people change their tune in terms of negotiations," Bessent   said. "So my, my mailbox was full last night with a lot of new offers, a lot of new proposals."   "It ’ s going to be a busy couple of days," he added.