‘Just keep working hard’: President Trump Advises Countries Ahead Of Tariff Talks

US President Donald Trump has asked countries to ‘just keep working hard’ during ongoing trade talks at the White House.

He declared this ahead of the August 1 negotiation deadline and repeated his claim that ‘both friend and foe’ have taken advantage of America for many years.

President Trump made the remarks before departing for flood-ravaged areas in Texas.

Meanwhile, South Korea, Japan, and other countries are struggling to reach trade deals with the US to avoid or minimise the impact of steep ‘reciprocal’ tariffs set to take effect on August 1, reported Yonhap news agency.

“I think just keep working hard. You know, we’ve been taken advantage of for many, many years by countries, both friend and foe. And frankly, the friends have been worse than the foes in many cases,” the US President said during a press conference at the White House.

He further added, “So I would say, ‘Just keep working.’ It’s all going to work out.”

President Trump’s letter to South Korean President Lee Jae Myung

On Monday, the US President sent a letter to the South Korean President, which stated that the US will start imposing 25 per cent tariffs on South Korean products on August 1, rather than on Wednesday.

However, the administration initially scheduled the reciprocal tariffs to take effect after a 90-day pause.

Moreover, President Trump announced the new tariff plan in April as a part of a deal to address trade barriers to US goods, reduce US trade deficits and rebuild American manufacturing.

Following this, South Korea and the United States held talks this week in Seoul to discuss ways to ‘modernise’ the bilateral alliance in a ‘mutually beneficial’ manner and strengthen it into a ‘future-oriented’ and ‘comprehensive strategic’ one, the two sides said.

The deal came as the US President administration has been calling on allies and partners to bolster their ‘burden sharing’ while hustling to prioritise deterring the ‘pacing threat’ from an increasingly assertive China.

“The two sides discussed ways to strengthen the US-ROK Alliance into a future-oriented, comprehensive strategic alliance, and to modernise the Alliance in a mutually beneficial manner in the face of an evolving regional security environment,” the two countries’ joint press release read.

Also Read: PM Carney Vows To Defend Canadian Economy Against Trump’s Tariff Threat