Hassett: 'Big inventory' of tariff deals 'close to the finish line'

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Thursday that U.S. negotiations with foreign trade partners have been successful after President Trump's latest tariffs went into effect. 

Hassett, in an interview Thursday with CNBC, said approximately 20 countries have begun to make offers to change their import tax rates on U.S. goods. The movement comes after the Trump administration issued a 10 percent baseline tax on nearly all foreign trading partners and a slew of new tariffs last week.

“There's a big inventory of deals that are right close to the finish line,” the economic adviser told host Joe Kernen.

Trump on Wednesday made the decision to temporarily walk back most of the reciprocal tariffs, issuing an across the board pause for 90 days. The three-month reprieve does not apply to the baseline tax or China.

Hassett noted the hike in import tax rates urged U.S. trading partners to seriously consider adjusting their trade policy. 

“There's a bunch of offers that are really sensible offers, and they're coming from our top trading partners," he said. "It's some of the most progress in trade negotiation that I think, probably the most progress that we've ever seen."

“So, I think that this system that the President set up to say, hey, we're serious about negotiation. We're serious about reciprocity," the White House economist continued. "If you guys come down, we'll come down to do that."

Hassett said there were at least two trade deals that were almost complete as of Wednesday but acknowledged that more legal work needed to be done before the agreements were finalized. His comments, largely echoing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, come as the U.S. is expected to hold talks with Japan and South Korea.

China, despite Trump's decision to increase tariffs on Beijing to 125 percent in response to countermeasures, also signaled openness to negotiation. A spokesperson for the Chinese government, however, said it would need to be done with "respect."

Trump has doubled down on his trade agenda since unveiling the latest import tax rates, arguing that tariffs will help boost manufacturing and production in the U.S. The president has consistently argued countries that want lower tariffs will first have to drop their prices on U.S. imports.

“If a Country feels that the United States would be getting too high a Tariff, all they have to do is reduce or terminate their Tariff against us,” he previously wrote on Truth Social. “There are no Tariffs if you manufacture or build your product in the United States."

Market volatility and economic uncertainty around the tariffs have raised inflation fears among experts and lawmakers alike. Trump has encouraged people to invest more in stocks and remain “cool," even as the stock market dips and surges amid the trade war.

“BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before!” he wrote Wednesday.