Trump officials keep up tariff pressure but hint at flexibility on deadline
The Trump administration is stepping up pressure on trading partners to quickly make new deals before a Wednesday deadline, with plans for the United States to start sending letters Monday warning countries that higher tariffs could kick in Aug. 1.
That furthers the uncertainty for businesses, consumers and America’s trading partners, and questions remain about which countries will be notified, whether anything will change in the days ahead and whether President Donald Trump will once more push off imposing the rates. Trump and his top trade advisers say he could extend the time for dealmaking but they insist the administration is applying maximum pressure on other nations.
Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that Trump would decide when it was time to give up on negotiations.
“The United States is always willing to talk to everybody about everything,” Hassett said. “There are deadlines, and there are things that are close, so maybe things will push back past the deadline or maybe they won’t. In the end the president is going to make that judgment.”
Stephen Miran, the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, likewise said countries negotiating in good faith and making concessions could “sort of, get the date rolled.”
The steeper tariffs that President Donald Trump announced April 2 threatened to overhaul the global economy and lead to broader trade wars. A week later, after the financial markets had panicked, his administration suspended for 90 days most of the higher taxes on imports just as they were to take effect. The negotiating window until July 9 has led to announced deals only with the United Kingdom and Vietnam.
Trump imposed elevated tariff rates on dozens of nations that run meaningful trade surpluses with the U.S., and a 10% baseline tax on imports from all countries in response to what he called an economic emergency. There are separate 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum and a 25% tariff on autos.
Since April, few foreign governments have set new trade terms with Washington as the Republican president demanded.
Trump told reporters early Friday that his administration might be sending out letters as early as Saturday to countries spelling out their tariff rates if they did not reach a deal, but that the U.S. would not start collecting those taxes until Aug. 1. On Friday night, he said he would “probably send out 10 or 12” letters on Monday, each reflecting “different amounts of money, different amounts of tariffs and somewhat different statements.”
He and his advisers have declined to say which countries would receive the letters.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent rejected the idea that Aug. 1 was a new deadline and declined to say what might happen Wednesday.
“We’ll see,” Bessent said on CNN’s State of the Union. “I’m not going to give away the playbook.”
He said the U.S. was “close to several deals,” and predicted several big announcements over the next few days. He gave no details.
“I think we’re going to see a lot of deals very quickly,” Bessent said.
Trump has announced a deal with Vietnam that would allow U.S. goods to enter the country duty-free, while Vietnamese exports to the U.S. would face a 20% levy.
That was a decline from the 46% tax on Vietnamese imports he proposed in April — one of his so-called reciprocal tariffs targeting dozens of countries with which the U.S. runs a trade deficit.
Asked if he expected to reach deals with the European Union or India, Trump said Friday that “letters are better for us” because there are so many countries involved.
“We have India coming up and with Vietnam, we did it, but much easier to send a letter saying, ’Listen, we know we have a certain deficit, or in some cases a surplus, but not too many. And this is what you’re going to have to pay if you want to do business in the United States.”
Canada, however, will not be one of the countries receiving letters, Trump’s ambassador, Pete Hoekstra, said Friday after trade talks between the two countries recently resumed.
“Canada is one of our biggest trading partners,” Hoekstra told CTV News in an interview in Ottawa. “We’re going to have a deal that’s articulated.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he wants a new deal in place by July 21 or Canada will increase trade countermeasures.
Hoekstra would not commit to a date for a trade agreement and said even with a deal, Canada could still face some tariffs. But “we’re not going to send Canada just a letter,” he said.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com