Trump's Treasury Sec Admits It's Another TACO Day With China
During a House Ways and Means Committee hearing, Virginia Rep. Don Beyer asked Bessent if Americans should prepare for a 'Liberation Day 2.0,' referencing the early April ceremony where Trump unveiled his market-crashing tariffs.
Bessent said the Trump administration was working to secure deals with '18 important trading partners' ahead of the July 9 deadline.
'We are working toward deals on those and it is highly likely that those countries that are... negotiating in good faith, we will roll the date forward to continue good faith negotiations,' he said. 'If someone is not negotiating, then we will not.'
'It will be up to President Trump, but it is my belief that if someone is negotiating in good faith, that an extension will be possible,' Bessent added.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump announced in a Truth Social post that U.S. officials had struck a preliminary deal with China, pending approval from both him and Chinese President Xi Jinping, following two days of talks in London.
Under the fresh truce, China will supply the U.S. with rare earths, and the Trump administration will allow Chinese students into American universities.
There will also be a 55 percent tariff on Chinese goods. A White House official told NBC News that the figure is nothing new, explaining that it reflects the 30 percent tariffs that Trump earlier added to preexisting 25 percent levies.
'President Xi and I are going to work closely together to open up China to American Trade,' Trump said. 'This would be a great WIN for both countries!!!'
Trump declared America's 'liberation' from unfair trading policies on April 2, sending the stock market into a nosedive with his announcement of sweeping levies on most of the country's trading partners.
Days later, as stocks continued to tank, Trump hit pause on his trade war and declared a 90-day reprieve on tariffs for most countries, just as he backed off his tariffs on Canadian goods and lowered his sky-high duties on Chinese imports.
The on-again, off-again tariff rollout has earned an acronym on Wall Street: TACO, for Trump Always Chickens Out.
Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong first coined the term 'TACO trade,' which quickly became popular among stockbrokers.
The president had a meltdown last month when a reporter asked him about the term.
'I chicken out?' he asked. 'I've never heard that… It's called negotiation!'
'Don't ever say what you said. That's a nasty question,' he told the reporter, later adding: 'I usually have the opposite problem. They say I am too tough.'
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