WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump released a fresh set of letters to trading partners Wednesday, setting out tariff rates for six countries as Washington pushes to bring about a flurry of trade deals officials have promised.

The letters, addressed to leaders of economies including the Philippines, Brunei, Algeria, Libya and Iraq, spelled out duties ranging from 20 percent to 30 percent.

Similar to Trump’s first batch of documents published Monday, the tariff levels were not too far from those originally threatened in April, although some partners received notably lower rates this time.

While the president in April imposed a 10 percent levy on almost all trading partners, he unveiled — and then held off on — higher rates for dozens of economies. The deadline for these steeper levels to take effect was meant to be Wednesday, before Trump postponed it further to August 1.—AFP