Major US trading partners scrambled over the weekend to finalize trade deals or lobby for extra time as President Donald Trump said he’s notifying about a dozen countries on Monday of the new tariff level on their shipments to the US.

President Trump said he was preparing to set unilateral tariff rates of up to 70% that would kick in Aug. 1, delaying the levies while putting pressure on global trade negotiations. The European Union will hold crunch talks with the U.

Global stocks mostly retreated on Friday as countries pushed to secure trade deals with the Trump administration ahead of a July 9 deadline for US tariffs to take effect. Markets also weighed the possible impact of US President Donald Trump's sweeping spending bill set to add an estimated $3.

The US government is to start sending out letters to countries with details of higher US tariff rates that will begin on 1 August, President Donald Trump has said. Between 10 to 12 letters will go out on Friday, with more over the coming days, the president told reporters.

US President Donald Trump on Saturday said that his administration is immediately sending letters to the first batch of 10 to 12 countries, sharing details of reciprocal tariff rates and the entire process could be completed by July 9.