WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is prioritising the standard of commerce agreements over assembly a looming deadline, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated on Monday (Jul 21), as international locations scramble to keep away from steep new tariffs set to take impact on Aug 1.
“We’re not going to hurry for the sake of doing offers,” Bessent advised CNBC. Requested whether or not the deadline could possibly be prolonged for international locations engaged in talks, he stated it might be as much as President Donald Trump.
“If we one way or the other boomerang again to the August 1 tariff, I might suppose {that a} increased tariff degree will put extra stress on these international locations to come back with higher agreements,” he stated.
Trump has roiled international markets with sweeping tariff threats focusing on most main US buying and selling companions. However his administration has fallen wanting securing offers with many international locations, together with India, the European Union and Japan, the place negotiations have confirmed tougher than anticipated.
WHITE HOUSE, EU RESPONSE
White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated Trump might elevate commerce throughout talks with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on the White Home on Tuesday.
She stated the US remained engaged with governments globally and will announce new offers or difficulty extra tariff notifications earlier than the deadline, however provided no additional particulars.
In the meantime, European Union diplomats stated the bloc was contemplating broader counter-measures amid dimming prospects for a deal. Germany and different EU international locations are weighing using “anti-coercion” instruments that might limit US entry to public tenders or goal providers.
“The negotiations over the extent of tariffs are at the moment very intense,” stated German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “The Individuals are fairly clearly not keen to conform to a symmetrical tariff association.”
