White House 'close to the finish line' on some trade deals, says Treasury official
Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender said Monday that the Trump administration continues "to make very good progress" on trade negotiations, and it is "close to the finish line on a couple" of deals.
"As long as we continue to make progress, I think you're going to see a lot more deals that are announced prior to that July 9 time frame," Faulkender said on CNBC's "Squawk Box."
President Donald Trump on April 9 paused his reciprocal tariffs on most U.S. trade partners for 90-days, pushing implementation of the steep levies to early July.
At the time, the Trump administration said they were aiming to close "90 deals in 90 days."
But nearly two months after the April announcement, the White House has so far only announced a deal with Britain.
Nonetheless, top Trump advisers have indicated they do not plan to extend the 90-day deadline.
Faulkender said that the White House is looking "to conclude as many of these discussion as we can" before the 90-day pause expires, noting that negotiations "are sometimes complicated."
"We want to see that we reach at least terms of an agreement prior to the expiration of that pause, as long as [trade partners] make progress and demonstrate goodwill, we will continue to make progress towards announcing those deals," he said.
"We look to make announcements and bring some resolution, both to the American people and to markets, as quickly as we can," he added.
Faulkender also said that the White House negotiators "continue to make very good progress on a couple of countries that should be imminent."
Major U.S. stock indexes opened lower Monday, weighed down by investor concerns about escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China.
The months-long, tariff fueled trade war between the two countries appeared to deescalate last month, following negotiations in Switzerland. But they flared again last week, when the Trump administration accused China of violating a preliminary trade agreement by slow-walking its pledge to renewed exporting critical minerals to the United States.
China pushed back against Trump's claims on Monday, and countered that the U.S. had undermined the Geneva deal by imposing new restrictions on Chinese student visas, among other measures.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett signaled Sunday that Trump and China's President Xi Jinping could hold a direct talk as soon as this week.
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