Donald Trump wanted 90 trade deals in 90 days. How many has he cracked?

First Post

a day ago

US President Donald Trump shocked many people twice – first by announcing tariffs on dozens of countries in April and then announcing a 90-day pause a week later. But now the July 9 deadline is approaching for nations to come to trade agreements with America. So, how many countries have signed trade deals with Trump? Which others are in progress? read more
US President Donald Trump delivering remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington. Reuters
US President Donald Trump shocked many in April when he announced the 'Liberation Day' tariffs on dozens of countries.
Trump surprised many again when he, a week later, announced a 90-day pause on the tariffs in order to allow countries to negotiate bilateral trade deals.
Trump had set a July 9 deadline for the nations to come to trade agreements with America.
Top Trump officials had vowed to 'achieve 90 deals in 90 days'.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
But how many deals have actually materialised?
Let's take a closer look:
Done but…
UK
Despite his bluster, Trump has only managed to close a handful of deals – which critics have decried as small potatoes.
The first is a pact with the United Kingdom signed last month.
While Trump has touted this as a 'major trade deal', that would be greatly stretching the truth.
This is in fact a 'mini-trade deal'.
Trump has only signed an executive order reducing tariffs on certain British goods.
This includes cutting a 25 per cent tariff on cars to 10 per cent for the first 100,000 vehicles.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump shake hands at the White House. File image/Reuters
The tariffs on British steel and aluminium are yet to be finalised.
Trump had also imposed tariffs on products made from steel and aluminium such as gym equipment, furniture and machinery.
The countries are also yet to reach an agreement on tariffs on pharma.
The UK has done away with a 20 per cent tariffs on US beef imports.
It also allowed 1.4 billion litres of ethanol to be imported tariff-free.
Ethanol shipments to the UK from the United States were earlier taxed at 19 per cent.
China
The second is a face-saving agreement with China.
China and the US have also reached a limited agreement – mostly to try to take a step back from the escalating trade war.
The two countries initially held talks in Geneva in May.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
This came after China suspended exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets to the US in retaliation for Trump's tariffs.
This allowed both countries to pause tariffs for 90 days while they tried to work out a larger deal.
Trump in June claimed the United States had signed a deal with China but did not provide details.
'We just signed with China the other day,' Trump said at an event at the White House.
China and the US have also reached a limited agreement – mostly to try to take a step back from the escalating trade war.
A White House official claimed that the United States has reached an agreement with China on how to expedite rare earth shipments to the US during talks in London.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick too claimed the deal was 'signed and sealed'.
However, he too did not provide any specific information.
China merely said that the two countries have confirmed details on the framework of the Geneva trade talks.
It said China would approve exports of controlled items but made no mention of rare earths.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
'Following the London talks, the teams from both sides have maintained close communication,' a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce said.
'Recently, with approval, both sides further confirmed the details of the framework.'
China 'will review and approve applications for the export control items that meet the requirements in accordance with the law', the statement said.
Details about the deal remain scarce.
It remains to be seen if the world's largest economies can hammer out a larger trade deal.
Vietnam
Trump also announced a trade deal with Vietnam on Thursday.
Trump, taking to social media, claimed that under the 'Great Deal of Cooperation", the US would charge Vietnam 20 per cent on tariffs.
The US would also levy a 40 per cent tariff on goods that pass through Vietnam – a process known as 'trans-shipping'.
Vietnam, meanwhile, would have zero tariffs on US products.
Vietnam under the deal would have zero tariffs on US products.
Adam Sitkoff, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi, told the BBC the deal puts Vietnam 'in a good position'.
'Companies that ship from [Vietnam] to the US are going to keep doing it', Siktoff added.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
However, he said 'trans-shipping' is a 'a vague and often politicised term in trade enforcement'
'It's unclear how much illegal re-routing Vietnamese officials will even be able to catch, or how much exists', Sitkoff said.
Work in progress
India
Trump and other top officials from both sides including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar have repeatedly expressed optimism that a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with India is close.
Though the team from India led by chief negotiator Rajesh Aggarwal are huddled in intense discussions with US officials, key concerns remain.
India, for example, wants to protect its dairy and agriculture industry.
India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. File image/PTI
For the unversed, India has never opened up its dairy industry to foreigners.
The US, on the other hand, is desperate to open up a new market for its goods.
Experts say that a UK-style limited trade deal is likely to be reached.
Canada
Negotiations between the US and Canada, which Trump has frequently dubbed the '51st state', temporarily broke down.
This came after Trump in a huff claimed Canada's Digital Services Tax (DST) is a " direct and blatant attack' on the United States.
'We are hereby terminating all discussions on trade with Canada, effective immediately,' Trump wrote on social media. 'We will let Canada know the tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven-day period.'
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
The talks are slated to be restarted after Canada announced it was scrapping the tax on US firms.
This revenue, which Canada generates from its digital users, would have impacted companies such as Google, Amazon, Meta and Apple.
The talks are slated to be restarted after Canada announced it was scrapping the tax on US firms.
'Rescinding the digital services tax will allow the negotiations of a new economic and security relationship with the United States to make vital progress and reinforce our work to create jobs and build prosperity for all Canadians,' Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in a statement.
Canada says its expects to reach a deal with the US by July 21.
Japan
US officials including Trump had expressed optimism that a trade deal could be quickly and easily be reached with Japan.
Indeed, Japan, an ally of the United States was one of the first countries to open negotiations with Trump on a possible trade deal.
However, talks between the two countries seem to have hit a wall over automobiles – a key Japanese export on which the US has imposed a 25 per cent tariff.
Trump is now also threatening a tariff on Japanese rice.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Japan, an ally of the United States was one of the first countries to open negotiations with Trump on a possible trade deal.
'I have great respect for Japan, they won't take our rice, and yet they have a massive rice shortage,' Trump wrote on social media. 'We'll just be sending them a letter, and we love having them as a Trading Partner for many years to come.'
He also falsely claimed that Japan does not buy both products from the United States.
Japan, in fact, bought $298 million worth of rice and around 16,000 cars from the US.
However, no deal with Tokyo appears imminent.
Trump himself did not sound optimistic earlier this week.
'We've dealt with Japan. I'm not sure if we're gonna make a deal, I doubt it, with Japan,' Trump said. 'They and others are so spoiled from having ripped us off for 30, 40 years that it's really hard for them to make a deal.'
Japan earlier this week said talks are on.
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kazuhiko Aoki was quoted as saying, 'Japan will continue to engage vigorously in sincere and honest discussions toward the realization of an agreement that will benefit both Japan and the United States.'
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
How much will America have to pay for Trump's tariffs?
Analysis shows Trump's tariffs will cost US employers a healthy chunk of change.
The study by JPMorganChase Institute puts the price tag at $82.3 billion
This would impact companies whose annual revenue is between $10 million and $1 billion – which employ nearly a third of private sector US workers.
President Donald Trump talks to workers as he tours US teel Corporation's Mon Valley Works-Irvin plant. File image/AP
This is even worse if the original tariffs Trump had announced had remained in place.
In that instance, the companies would have faced an additional burden of $187.6 billion.
This would equate to shelling out around $2,000 extra per employee – or around three per cent of their payroll.
Employers won't be the only ones suffering.
Another study from Goldman Sachs said companies will pass on at least 60 per cent of their tariff costs to the consumer.
Trump's theatrics growing stale?
To many people, Trump's theatrics on tariffs are growing stale.
Some, in fact, say they had expected Trump to reach these broad frameworks with countries and then brand them as trade deals.
'I would expect the White House will announce some number of frameworks that it's going to call trade deals, but do not meet anyone's ordinary understanding of that term,' Tim Meyer, a professor at Duke University law school who specialises in international trade, told Bloomberg.
Others say countries are already beginning to look away from the United States.
Kristina Fong, an economic affairs researcher at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, said China will be the first port of call for many nations.
'It's a very slow burn kind of momentum, but that's always been, I think, the underlying case,' Fong told Time Magazine
Meanwhile, Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' is massively unpopular with the public.
Polls from multiple organisations show the bill receiving net disapproval ratings ranging from minus 19 per cent to minus 29 per cent.
Elon Musk and Donald Trump have been going at it over the 'One Big Beautiful Bill'. Reuters
CNN's senior data analyst Harry Enten said the public thingks the bill is 'awful and horrible'.
Enten said the more people learn about it, the more they hate it.
Meanwhile, Trump's poll numbers are said to be sinking.
A new poll shows Trump's approval and disapproval ratings are at 40 and 56 per cent respectively.
This comes as an expert from Harvard said that data shows that young men aged 18 to 29 are starting to turn on Trump.
These developments make sense given the fact that Trump, in fact, is hampered by one simple fact – he has no authority to sign off on major trade deals.
That power, along with the purse strings, lies in the hands of US Congress – which seems to have abandoned its authority completely in the era of Trump.
It remains to be seen if Trump can turn things around at this point.