Donald Trump’s August 1 tariff deadline is firm, US Commerce Secretary Lutnick says, Australia face 10pc

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says August 1 is the deadline for countries to begin paying tariffs to the United States, but “nothing stops countries from talking to us after August 1”.

“That’s a hard deadline, so on August 1, the new tariff rates will come in,” Mr Lutnick said on CBS News, when asked about the deadline for his tariffs on the European Union.

US President Donald Trump has shifted the goalposts on tariffs multiple times since announcing steep levies on trading partners on April 2, but White House officials now maintain that August 1 is a firm deadline.

“Nothing stops countries from talking to us after August 1, but they’re going to start paying the tariffs on August 1,” Mr Lutnick said.

Mr Lutnick said that some small countries, “the Latin American countries, the Caribbean countries, many countries in Africa,” would have a baseline tariff of 10 per cent.

His comments could bring relief for nations anxiously awaiting a definitive decision on tariff rates from Mr Trump, who recently suggested that baseline tariff rates for these nations could be over 10 per cent.

The president announced last week that letters to smaller countries would be sent out soon. “We’ll probably set one tariff for all of them ... probably a little over 10 per cent,” Mr Trump said.

Mr Lutnick added that “the bigger economies will either open themselves up or they’ll pay a fair tariff to America.”

Mr Lutnick’s comments come after Mr Trump earlier this month sent letters to trading partners notifying them of the new tariff rates, which reached as high as 40 per cent for some nations.

The letters, posted on Trump’s Truth Social, said that tariffs would take effect August 1, prompting last-minute negotiations from trading partners seeking a lower rate.