Treasury Secretary Says Trade Deals Could Be Announced This Week
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday said the United States has been receiving 'good offers' in tariff negotiations with major U.S. trading partners and that some trade deals will be announced this week.
During a House hearing, Bessent
'I expect that we can see a substantial reduction of the tariffs that we are being charged, as well as non-tariff barriers, currency manipulation and subsidies, both labor and capital investment,' he told the House Appropriations Committee, adding that some countries have made good offers.
More than a month ago, President Donald Trump announced baseline tariffs of 10 percent on nearly every country in the world and higher rates for countries that do more significant trade with the United States. The higher tariff rates were paused for 90 days in an announcement from Trump a week later to secure negotiations, though he raised tariffs on China, with an ensuing tit-for-tat ending with 145 percent on the communist regime.
He has also separately imposed 25 percent tariffs on autos, steel, and aluminum, as well as 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico. For the two U.S. neighbors, the tariffs were implemented earlier in the year in a bid to offset unchecked illegal immigration and fentanyl trafficking into the country via the two countries. Trump has said that if those issues are dealt with, those tariffs can be reduced or eliminated. Imports that comply with the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement are exempt from the tariffs.
Bessent told the House panel Tuesday that around 97 or 98 percent of the U.S. trade deficit was with approximately 15 countries, most of which were major trading partners, and discussions were proceeding well with many.
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'I would be surprised if we don't have more than 80 or 90 percent of those wrapped by the end of the year, and that may be much sooner,' he said. 'I would think that perhaps as early as this week we will be announcing trade deals with some of our largest trading partners.'
Trump told reporters on Sunday that his administration could announce some trade deals this week, but he did not go into specifics. Some administration officials have suggested that India and Japan could be the first countries to sign a trade agreement with the White House to lower the tariff rates Trump has levied.
Meanwhile, Bessent's comments on the lack of talks with the Chinese regime came after Trump on Sunday told reporters that he had no plans to speak with Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping this week, but U.S. officials were speaking with Chinese officials about a variety of different things.
The president told NBC News in an interview released Sunday that the United States has been 'very tough' with its biggest rival and said that China now wants to come to an agreement. 'They want to make a deal. They want to make a deal very badly. We'll see how that all turns out, but it's got to be a fair deal,' he
'We were losing a trillion dollars' in trade with China, he added.
Aside from tariffs, Bessent warned that the U.S. government has been engaged in out-of-control spending that he says needs to be reined in. The current borrowing limit set by his agency is currently on a 'warning track,' he said, adding that he would provide more guidance on when the government will run out of funds.
'We do not have a revenue problem: we have a spending problem,' he said. 'We have to bring this spending under control.'
Reuters contributed to this report.
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