US Treasury chief says key trade deals may come by September
WASHINGTON: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday (Jun 27) that Washington could reach key tariff deals with over a dozen partners in the coming months and have its trade agenda wrapped up by early September.
His comments to Fox Business come ahead of a Jul 9 deadline for steeper US duties to kick in on dozens of economies.
Countries have been rushing to negotiate and reach trade pacts with Washington to avoid this outcome, although the White House recently suggested that President Donald Trump's administration could extend this deadline.
On Friday, Bessent noted that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has expressed expectations for 10 deals with trading partners.
The Treasury chief reiterated that there are 18 key partners the United States is focusing on agreements with.
"If we can ink 10 or 12 of the important 18, there are another important 20 relationships, then I think we could have trade wrapped up by Labour Day," Bessent said. That holiday falls on Sep 1.
A day prior, Lutnick told Bloomberg Television when asked about the July deadline: "We're going to do top 10 deals, put them in the right category, and then these other countries will fit behind."
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also told reporters Thursday that the deadline "could be extended, but that's a decision for the president to make".
She said the date itself is "not critical".
In April, Trump imposed a sweeping 10 per cent tariff on most trading partners and unveiled higher rates on dozens of economies before pausing them while negotiations took place. This halt is due to expire Jul 9.
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Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
Conscription, once buried, returns to the debate at a turning point in Germany's defence arrangement
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Apart from efforts to attract volunteers, the idea of reinstating conscription – suspended in 2011 – is now in the spotlight at a time when the German military budget is set to rise significantly in the coming years. At its recent summit, Nato acceded to US President Donald Trump's demand that European allies vastly increase defence spending to 5 per cent of their respective gross domestic product (GDP) from the erstwhile 2 per cent expectation. Seen as a Cold War relic at the time, Germany's conscription system was suspended in the wake of professionalisation trends across Nato and a waning perception of immediate military threat, particularly from Russia. The Bundeswehr was streamlined, and defence policy pivoted towards international missions and soft power. By the time of its suspension, mandatory service had already been reduced to just six months and applied to only a fraction of eligible recruits. Questions about both the duration and fairness of the draft process undermined its legitimacy, leading to its indefinite suspension. Things changed, however, when Moscow annexed Crimea and occupied the Donbas in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and then unleashed a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia is now again a security threat, with the German military short of funds, arms and troops. Moreover, the US, with Mr Trump's appeasement approach towards Russian President Vladimir Putin, is no longer a reliable ally. Germany has committed the funds towards beefing up its military but needs to address the shortage of fighting men. 'We need conscription again,' said Lieutenant-General Alfons Mais, Germany's army chief, at the Munich Security Conference in February. 'Our goals can't be achieved otherwise.' One of those goals, set by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, is for the Bundeswehr to grow to 260,000 troops from the current 182,000 within a decade, ready for high-intensity warfare. This would bring the Bundeswehr to around its strength at the turn of the 21st century, when it had about 250,000 troops, but still short of the more than 500,000 at the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s. Mr Pistorius is currently banking on a revamped voluntary service model to reverse the Bundeswehr's recruitment shortfall. Under the new initiative, set to begin in the latter half of 2025, all 18-year-old men will receive a questionnaire to assess their willingness and fitness for military service. Those who express interest may be called in for further screening, with the goal of gradually increasing the number of full-time soldiers and reservists. The programme offers several incentives: Recruits can earn a monthly base salary starting at around € 1,800 (S$2,700), receive free accommodation, healthcare and training, and are given pathways to civilian careers within the Bundeswehr system. 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Dissent among politicians Against the backdrop of the broader debate on national defence, it is perhaps of little surprise that many observers are rubbing their eyes in disbelief. Is it really Germany – of all countries, the one responsible for two world wars in the last century – that is now setting out to build one of the most powerful armies in Europe once again? A group of Social Democrats led by former parliamentary leader Rolf Mutzenich recently published a paper protesting against the massive increase in defence spending, while rejecting the stationing of US long-range weapons on German soil. They also called for a renewed policy of cooperation with Russia, harking back to the generally cooperative relations between Germany and Russia in the two decades after the Cold War. The Social Democratic Party is part of the current ruling coalition led by Mr Merz's Christian Democratic Union. 'This paper is a denial of reality. It exploits the people's understandable desire for an end to the terrible war in Ukraine,' Mr Pistorius, himself a Social Democrat, said in June in an interview with the German Press Agency. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is perceived by most European states as an existential threat. 2022 pushed the German political class – and much of Europe's as well – into making a long-overdue U-turn, expanding defence spending to rebuild the long-neglected armed forces of Europe's largest economy. That rebuilding will not be easy. Speaking shortly after Mr Putin's Ukraine invasion began, Lt-Gen Mais had said the Bundeswehr stood 'more or less bare' after years of austerity and had only limited options in the face of Russia. That reality, he confirmed at February's Munich Security Conference, has not fundamentally changed. 'We're not in a good place,' he added. 'We're suffering from the loss of equipment sent to Ukraine and from painfully slow structural reform.' Challenges of rapid change To now quickly scale up the army and increase troop numbers would require new infrastructure. This is because dozens of military bases have closed, with barracks turned into residential housing. All 52 local conscription offices were shut down in 2012 – replaced by slimmed-down career centres and advisory hubs tailored to the reduced ambition. Mr Paul Wohlfahrt, 27, a reservist in the mountain infantry, is sceptical of such rapid German military expansion plans. 'Before we even talk about conscription, we need the infrastructure in place,' he told The Straits Times. 'Even now, not every soldier has a bed or a room – many go home to sleep. So where are we going to house new recruits?' He claims that numerous applicants have already been turned away due to a lack of capacity. 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While Britain has explicitly placed its nuclear forces at Nato's disposal, France has deliberately kept its nuclear forces, the so-called 'Force de Frappe', under national command and not part of Nato's nuclear planning group. But even if France were willing, would its stockpile of roughly 300 warheads suffice as credible deterrence? Within Germany, public sentiment has shifted noticeably since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While pacifist instincts remain strong among many Germans, recent polls indicate growing support for national defence efforts. A YouGov/dpa survey from 2024 showed that more than half of the population favours reintroducing some form of conscription, particularly among older Germans , although support remains lower among the 18-29 age group. Nevertheless, the war has left a mark on younger Germans as well: There is a visible uptick in interest in defence-sector careers, especially in technical and logistical roles. 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CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
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Straits Times
4 hours ago
- Straits Times
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