By Martin Shwenk Leade
ReutersFILE PHOTO: U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has had no shortage of midnight reading lately. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had a lot of people change their tune in terms of negotiations. So my mailbox was full last night with a lot of new offers, a lot of new proposals,鈥 Bessent told CNBC. He didn鈥檛 hide what that means: 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a busy couple of days.鈥滻n the next 48 hours, the US is set to drop several trade announcements. These come as President Trump鈥檚 self-imposed July 9 deadline looms. It鈥檚 a final push to nail down deals that have stalled for months.President Donald Trump said the United States would start delivering tariff letters from 12:00 pm ET (1600 GMT) on Monday.The letters would not necessarily provide an ultimatum, according to Bessent.”It’s just ‘thank you for wanting to trade with the United States of America. We welcome you as a trading partner, and here’s the rate, unless you want to come back and try to negotiate,'” he said.Live EventsLetters in the postThe plan is simple enough. Dozens of letters are going out to countries dragging their feet. Trump confirmed as many as 15 would hit inboxes starting Monday. Some would follow on Tuesday and Wednesday. 鈥淟etters, and/or Deals, with various Countries from around the World鈥 would start landing at midnight Monday, he wrote on social media.Kevin Hassett, who heads the National Economic Council, explained the thinking on CBS鈥檚 Face the Nation: 鈥淥ur smaller trading partners could become much bigger trading partners. And that鈥檚, I think, one of the reasons why countries are racing to set deals up with us ahead of the deadline.鈥滲essent declined to comment on whether negotiations on new ownership of the TikTok short video app, which President Donald Trump said would start this week, would be linked to trade talks.He said he would meet with his Chinese counterpart in the next couple of weeks.”I think there are things for us to do together if the Chinese want to do it, so we will discuss whether we are able to move beyond trade into other areas,” he told CNBC.Tariffs locked and loadedThe threat hanging over these letters is clear enough. Fail to sign, and you鈥檙e looking at new tariffs on 1 August. 鈥淎ny Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff,鈥 Trump posted, singling out the bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and new members like Iran and Egypt.Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick added that the 1 August deadline isn鈥檛 just bluster. If you鈥檙e not in line by Wednesday, you could be paying up.Who鈥檚 in the firing line?Bessent told CNN that about 100 letters will target smaller nations 鈥渨here we don鈥檛 have very much trade鈥 and where tariffs sit at the baseline 10%. The bigger target is the deficit heavyweights. 鈥淭here are 18 important trading relationships that account for 95% of our deficit, and those are the ones we鈥檙e concentrating on,鈥 he said.Asked if 1 August is the final word, Bessent dodged: 鈥淲e鈥檒l see. I鈥檓 not going to give away the playbook.鈥漇tephen Miran, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, suggested countries negotiating in good faith might earn extra time. 鈥淪ort of, get the date rolled,鈥 he told CBS.US-Vietnam deal sets the toneLast week, Trump unveiled a new agreement with Vietnam. Under this deal, Vietnamese goods will face a 20% tariff. If companies try to reroute exports to dodge duties, a 40% tariff on 鈥渢ransshipping鈥 kicks in. But the flip side is zero tariffs for American exports into Vietnam. In Trump鈥檚 words, Vietnam will 鈥淥PEN THEIR MARKET TO THE UNITED STATES.鈥滻t鈥檚 a climbdown from the 46% tax he floated in April. But it鈥檚 still steep enough to show he means business.Not everyone gets a letterNot all countries will see one of these warning letters. Canada, for one, won鈥檛. After fresh talks, US ambassador Pete Hoekstra told CTV News that Ottawa is negotiating directly. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have a deal that鈥檚 articulated,鈥 he said. Still, even Canada could face tariffs if talks break down. Prime Minister Mark Carney has said if there鈥檚 no deal by 21 July, Ottawa will hit back with its own measures.What makes this round different is how public and forceful it all is. Trump鈥檚 last tariff threat in April spooked markets before it was paused for 90 days. With that freeze expiring this Wednesday, countries and investors are watching every word.Bessent, for his part, says, 鈥淚 think we鈥檙e going to see a lot of deals very quickly.鈥 But with clock ticking and no clear list of who鈥檚 playing ball, there鈥檚 still plenty that could knock this trade push off course.(with inputs from Reuters) (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)
Read More News onUS trade announcementsTreasury Secretary Scott Bessenttrade negotiationsVietnam trade dealBRICS countries tariffstariffs and trade policyAmerican exports to VietnamJuly 9 trade deadlineCanada trade negotiationsUS Department of the Treasury
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(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)Read More News onUS trade announcementsTreasury Secretary Scott Bessenttrade negotiationsVietnam trade dealBRICS countries tariffstariffs and trade policyAmerican exports to VietnamJuly 9 trade deadlineCanada trade negotiationsUS Department of the Treasury(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2025 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online….moreless
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