TACO not on the menu: Howard Lutnick says tariffs start August 1 with no extensions
President Donald Trump imposed his 'Liberation Day' tariffs in April, causing a rollercoaster stock market. A week later, he announced a 90-day pause, which has now expired, with many set to take effect Friday.
Although the world may have gotten used to Trump announcing sweeping levies before backing out of them shortly thereafter, this time, there's no risk of TACO — the shorthand for "Trump always chickens out" — the commerce secretary suggested.
"No extensions. No more grace periods. August 1, the tariffs are set. They'll go into place," Lutnick said on "Fox News Sunday.'
World leaders are still more than willing to talk to Trump after the August 1 deadline.
'Between now and then, I think the president's going to talk to a lot of people. Whether they can make him happy is another question, but the president is definitely willing to negotiate and talk to the big economies,' Lutnick continued.
Trump is meeting with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday to try to avoid a potential trade war.
"We're working very diligently with Europe, the EU," Trump told reporters before he left for Scotland on Friday. "I would say that we have a 50-50 chance, maybe less than that, but a 50-50 chance of making a deal with the EU."
Trump has announced trade deals with several countries, including Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Lutnick's announcement of the hard deadline contrasts with the message of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent days earlier, when he suggested the tariff deadlines were flexible.
'The important thing here is the quality of the deal, not the timing of the deals,' Bessent told CNBC on Monday.
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