Mali, but not without tariffs. Trump announces tariffs for 150 countries

US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that about "150 small countries with which the US does little business" will soon receive letters informing them of the new tariff rate, which is to be the same for all countries in this group.

Trump, during an Oval Office meeting with Bahraini Prime Minister Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, said that U.S. tariff revenues this year have exceeded $100 billion.

"And the tariffs haven't really kicked in yet, except for those on cars and steel," he added. He stated that on August 1st, when new import tariffs are scheduled to take effect, "big money" will start flowing into the country.

The president announced that he would soon announce "pretty good deals," including a trade deal with India.

Meanwhile, according to the conservative Wall Street Journal, Trump's policies regarding tariffs and immigration are beginning to impact the economy. The journal noted rising prices for some imported goods and a slowdown in employment growth. Economists believe the risk of recession is lower today than it was three months ago, but the tariffs are already starting to negatively impact American consumers.

According to government data, inflation reached 2.7% year-on-year in June. In May, it was 2.4%, which may indicate that companies have begun to pass on the costs of tariffs to consumers, the WSJ reported. Prices of imported furniture and clothing, for example, have increased. Experts predict that price increases will continue in the coming months. Analysts agree that tariffs are contributing to price increases, but they differ in their assessments of how severe the impact of the tariffs announced by Trump will be.

Trump himself called this "very low inflation" and reiterated his call for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to lower interest rates. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the data showed Trump was "stabilizing inflation" and that those who believe tariffs are contributing to higher prices are mistaken.

From Washington, Natalia Dziurdzińska (PAP)

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