Major U.S. trading partners hurried over the weekend to secure trade deals or lobby for extra time, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated that some countries lacking an agreement by the deadline Wednesday will have the option of a three-week extension to negotiate.
Major U.S. trading partners hurried over the weekend to secure trade deals or lobby for extra time, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated that some countries lacking an agreement by the deadline Wednesday will have the option of a three-week extension to negotiate.
“We’re going to be very busy over the next 72 hours,” Bessent said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” referring to the time left before the administration’s July 9 deadline.
In interviews with two programs Sunday, Bessent signaled that letters President Donald Trump is poised to send trading partners this week aren’t the final word on countries’ immediate tariff rates. The levies will kick in Aug. 1, so there’s still time for those that aren’t close to an agreement to bring offers to the table, he said.
For weeks, the administration has signaled that Trump’s reciprocal tariffs will revert on July 9 to their higher April 2 levels for countries that fail to secure an accord aimed at reducing U.S. trade imbalances. Bessent acknowledged that the sheer number of ongoing discussions is complicating the final stages.
“There’s a lot of congestion going into the home stretch,” the Treasury chief said on “Fox News Sunday.” “So by telling our trading partners that they could boomerang back to the April 2 date, I think it’s really going to move things along the next couple of days and weeks.”
Trump told reporters over the Fourth of July weekend that he “signed some letters and they’ll go out on Monday – probably 12” initially. He declined to identify the recipients, saying his directives involve “different amounts of money, different amounts of tariffs and somewhat different statements.”
Speaking to CNN, Bessent declined to characterize Aug. 1 as the new deadline. “If you want to speed things up, have at it,” he said about countries that receive a letter.
