South Africa has asked for more time to negotiate a trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration before his higher tariff regime goes into effect on July 9, Pretoria's trade ministry said on Tuesday.

"Dear Mr. Japan, here's the story. You're going to pay a 25% tariff on your cars," he said. "We don't have to meet. We understand, we have all the numbers."

With just 10 days to go until President Donald Trump’s country-specific tariffs are set to resume, the White House appears poised to fall short of the sweeping global trade reforms it promised to achieve during the three months they were on hold.