President Donald Trump enacted sweeping tariff measures on the vast majority of U.S. trade partners earlier this year.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has delivered an update on tariff negotiations with U.S. trade partners as a 90-day reprieve deadline creeps closer.Why It Matters
President Donald Trump enacted sweeping tariff measures on the vast majority of U.S. trade partners earlier this year, with a 10 percent baseline on virtually all imports, plus country-specific surcharges. The White House paused these specified tariffs for many countries for 90 days starting April 9, retaining only the 10 percent baseline, with the intention of negotiating bilateral deals.
Earlier this week, Trump confirmed he would be sending letters to trade partners regarding heightened tariff rates if deals were not struck by the deadline. On Friday he said he had signed 12 letters, with a «take it or leave it» offers on the table.
The president has said that he was not planning to extend the 90-day pause and his administration would be notifying countries about the tariffs that will take effect unless deals are in place.What To Know
Speaking with CNN’s State of the Union host Dana Bash, Bessent said Trump would be «sending letters to some of our trading partners saying that if you don’t move things along, then on August 1 you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level.
