The day after President Trump surrendered to his global mutual tariffs, he and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed they would come one after another to make a deal to avoid further economic pain.
But the devil is in detail, and Trump and Rutnick offered a very small number. Instead, they said things would go well.
“Everyone wants to come and do business. We work with a lot of different countries. It all works very well,” Trump said at the cabinet meeting. “I think it's going to work really well, but we're in good condition.”
“We have a lot of countries that many countries need to talk about. They had offers that they never came to, but because of the move the president demanded that people be treated with respect,” Lutnick said.
However, exactly which country will enter into the contract, and most importantly, remains unknown. In most cases, the transaction negotiated by the Trump administration is unlikely to be a comprehensive trade agreement, so it could take years to mediate and requires Congressional approval.
A more limited transaction could benefit some exporters, but ultimately it doesn't do much to support the US economy or reduce the US trade deficit. Washington's manufacturing, technology and retail group said Wednesday it had not heard any indications that the deal was still gathering.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 fell 3.5% on Thursday, with investors feeling worried about the volatility of Trump's approach. Even with the 90-day suspension the president announced on Wednesday, the tariffs he has imposed on the world remained extremely high. Items from China currently face a minimum tariff rate of 145%, a dramatic increase in the country that supplies much of what Americans buy.
After Trump's tariff announcement last week, foreign officials competed against Washington to try and prevent taxation. Executives said more than 75 countries reached out to them, and US trade representative Jamieson Greer met officials from Europe, South Korea, Ecuador and Mexico on Tuesday.
Vietnamese officials have offered to preemptively cut tariffs on American apples, cherries and ethanol, and have appointed detailed changes to the meeting that they are willing to make.
On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent's office announced how to read the administration's debate with Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phok. Trump said last week that the US began discussing tariff rates with Vietnam.
“During their discussions, Secretary Becent emphasized the importance of continued engagement with trading partners and the need for rapid, demonstrable progress to resolve outstanding issues,” reads.
It was as specific as it got.
Trump tends to prefer to speak in ambiguous terms. This is because it gives you flexibility so that it doesn't get stuck. But its lack of specificity, and lack of clarity as to what the final game is, was part of why the announcement of tariffs spiralized the market.
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said he spoke with the Swiss president about the contract on Thursday morning. He said the US Trade Representative had “already made offers to tables in over 15 countries.”
Mr Becent spoke with a Vietnamese representative on Wednesday and said he had a “good chat” with the Japanese ambassador at his home within the Sakura Party.
On Wednesday, Japan was in front of the trade contract line, followed by South Korea and India. He added that the trade deal will be “made-to-order” and “take time” because Trump wanted to be involved personally.
Those familiar with the debate said that Japanese officials are fishing the country to have one of their first trade deals, but that could be more difficult due to long-term differences in views in sectors such as automobiles and steel.
Japan and the United States have been experiencing a long-term trade dispute dating back to the 1980s. This is the time when Trump wants to revive manufacturing in the United States.
In Trump's first term, he signed a “mini-deal” with Japan, dealing with just a few sectors and pursuing limited agreements of the same type as India and other countries.
Trump said on Thursday that Chinese leader Xi Jinping has been “a friend of mine for a long time,” but there are few indications that the US will soon begin actively negotiating with China.
“We'll see what happens in China,” Trump said. “We hope we can make a deal.”
Tony Romm contributed the report.
