Brazil had not been among those threatened previously with duties above a 10 per cent baseline, and the United States runs a goods trade surplus with Brazil.

On Wednesday, Trump also addressed letters to leaders of the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Algeria, Libya, Iraq and Moldova, spelling out duties ranging from 20 per cent to 30 per cent that would also take effect on 1 August.

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

While Trump in April imposed a 10 per cent levy on almost all trading partners, he unveiled -- and then withheld -- higher rates for dozens of economies.

The deadline for those steeper levels to take effect was meant to be Wednesday, before Trump postponed it further to 1 August.

Countries that faced the threats of elevated duties began receiving letters spelling out US tariff rates on their products.

In the messages, Trump justified his tariffs as a response to trade ties that he says are “far from Reciprocal.”

The letters urged countries to manufacture products in the United States to avoid duties, while threatening further escalation if leaders retaliated.