On August 1, the United States will apply tariffs to those trading partners with which it has not reached agreements, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared over the weekend.

(Read: Colombia formalizes adhesion to the BRICS Development Bank: what's next for the country).

The tariffs will"jump" to the levels, in some cases very high, that President Donald Trump had announced on April 2, before suspending the levies to allow trade negotiations and setting a deadline of July 9 to reach agreements, Bessent told CNN.

Bessent reiterated statements Trump made to the press on Friday, when he mentioned a new deadline for imposing tariffs.

In his Truth Social platform, Trump promised to impose an additional 10% tariff on countries that"align" themselves with the BRICS, a group that earlier expressed"serious concern" about the increase in "unilateral" tariffs, although without mentioning the United States.

"Any country that aligns with the anti-American policies of the BRICS will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy," Trump said. Initially formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, the group has recently expanded to 11 countries and represents nearly half of the world's population and nearly 40% of GDP.

"Well, I'll probably start them on August 1st, that's pretty soon, right?" the Republican president told reporters aboard Air Force One earlier.

Trump told reporters Sunday that he had signed nearly a dozen letters informing countries of the rate hikes.

"I think we'll have most countries ready by July 9th, either a letter or an agreement," Trump said, adding that some deals had been reached. At his side, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed that the tariffs would start on August 1,"but the president is setting the rates and the agreements right now."

Countries that have moved closer to the US

Washington is in negotiations with several countries to reach trade agreements that avoid tariffs.

With China, it agreed to a temporary truce to reduce the triple-digit tariffs they had imposed on each other.

(Also: U.S. tariffs on the world will take effect on August 1: Why the date changed).

To date, only the United Kingdom and Vietnam have managed to seal a trade agreement with the United States.

Bessent said his government is"close to several agreements," although he did not indicate which partners.

The Treasury Secretary denied that the United States is threatening countries with its tariff policy, although he admitted that"maximum pressure" must be applied.

"This isn't a deadline. We're just saying this is what's going to happen. If you want to speed things up, go ahead. If you want to go back to the previous rates, that's your choice," he said. He cited the European Union as an example, which"is making great progress" after having remained reluctant to change its trade agreement with Washington.

Washington is confident it will reach several agreements in the coming hours.

"We're going to have several announcements in the next 48 hours," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday in an interview with CNBC.

"Many have changed their tone in the negotiations. So my inbox last night was full with a lot of new offers, a lot of new proposals," said Bessent.

The Treasury secretary indicated that in the letters the president would remind countries of the tariff rate their products will have to pay unless they want to"go back and try to negotiate."