US President Donald Trump released a fresh set of letters to trading partners Wednesday, setting out tariff rates for seven more countries as Washington pushes to bring about a flurry of trade deals.

The letters, addressed to leaders of the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Algeria, Libya, Iraq and Moldova, spelled out duties ranging from 20 percent to 30 percent that would take effect on August 1.

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

Sri Lanka's updated tariff was 30 percent, down from 44 percent announced in April, while the figure for Iraq was 30 percent, down from 39 percent.

The Philippines, however, saw a 20 percent levy, up from 17 percent announced previously.

While Trump in April imposed a 10 percent 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 he postponed it further to August 1.

Instead, countries who face the threats of elevated duties began receiving letters spelling out US tariff rates on their products.

Trump said on Wednesday that he decided on the levies based on "common sense" and trade deficits.

He added at an event that he would release more letters later in the day -- including for Brazil, which does not currently face a tariff hike come August.

Trump's latest messages were near-identical to those published earlier in the week, and justified his tariffs as a response to trade ties that he says are "far from Reciprocal."

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

For now, over 20 countries have received Trump's letters including key US allies Japan and South Korea, as well as Indonesia, Bangladesh and Thailand. (AFP)