Trump's tariff deadline spurs frenzy among Asian countries to seal deals
deals with the United States before President
Donald Trump 's August 1 effective date for higher tariffs, with analysts saying some of Washington's trading partners risk missing the deadline unless they are prepared to offer swift concessions.
Trump recently sent letters to trading partners to warn that new tariffs would be imposed by the date if they failed to offer better terms following an extension of the original July 9 deadline.
His demand has set off a flurry of negotiations between Washington and trade officials around the world, with some countries managing to secure agreements in recent days. But most of the other affected countries are still involved in difficult and drawn-out negotiations with the US.
On Tuesday, Trump unveiled a trade deal with
Indonesia under which the Southeast Asian country would face a
19 per cent tariff , lower than the originally proposed 32 per cent. In comparison, he announced on July 2 that the US would impose a 20 per cent tariff on
Vietnamese imports , lower than the 46 per cent as initially planned.
It is unlikely that the US could conclude deals with its trade partners before the new deadline, according to analysts.
'Striking trade deals takes time and attention, and the US simply lacks the capacity to negotiate so many trade deals in so short a time,' said Pushan Dutt, an economics and political science professor at INSEAD.
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