Bessent tells countries don't ‘panic' if trade deals aren't made before Aug. 1, insists US has ‘leverage' over China
'If there's not a deal by Aug. 1, I would encourage market participants, corporate America, even the countries, not to panic, because you can still do a deal,' Bessent said in remarks at a forum hosted by Breitbart News at the Waldorf Astoria in the nation's capital.
Bessent went on to predict a 'busy August' with duty rates set to jump from the current 10% to as high as 50%, giving countries additional incentive to come to the negotiating table.
3 U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer speaks next to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a press conference at government quarters Rosenbad after the trade talks between the U.S. and China concluded, in Stockholm, Sweden, July 29, 2025.
via REUTERS
Advertisement
Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have stressed that the deadline can not be extended any more and that the rates will go up regardless of how far along negotiations are with any country.
'No extensions, no more grace periods. Aug. 1, the tariffs are set; they'll go into place. Customs will start collecting the money, and off we go,' Lutnick said on 'Fox News Sunday.'
'Obviously, after Aug. 1, people can still talk to President Trump. I mean, he's always willing to listen, and between now and then, I think the president is going to talk to a lot of people. Whether they can make him happy is another question.'
Advertisement
Trump affirmed in an all-caps post on Truth Social Wednesday morning: 'The August first deadline is the August first deadline — it stands strong and will not be extended.'
3 Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng stand for a photo during meetings in Stockholm, Sweden, on July 28, 2025.
US Treasury Department/AFP via Getty Images
Bessent made his remarks after returning to Washington from a much-anticipated meeting with Chinese representatives in Stockholm on Monday and Tuesday ahead of an Aug.12 deadline for a 34% reciprocal tariff to take effect against Beijing.
The Treasury head said recent trade deals announced by the US — including with the European Union and Japan — created a 'lot more leverage' and promised China will not get a 'special deal,' despite being America's third largest trading partner among individual nations.
Advertisement
'They were a little on their heels because we were — a week before, we had just done the Japanese trade deal, then the day before we began our talk … with the EU,' Bessent said.
'The world's with us now,' he added.
3 A container ship arrives at the port in Lianyungang, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on July 14, 2025.
AFP via Getty Images
Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer have held three rounds of talks with the Chinese in an effort to open up Beijing's economy to US goods.
Advertisement
The US and China agreed to a trade truce in June, with Trump imposing a 30% tariff.
That rate, which includes a 10% baseline tariff and another 20% as punishment for the flow of fentanyl ingredients from inside the Asian power, is significantly lower than the 145% rate Trump threatened at the peak of their trade war in the spring.
But Trump appeared to be optimistic Sunday about the prospects of an agreement, telling reporters in Scotland 'we're very close to a deal with China.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
13 minutes ago
- The Hill
Texas legislator James Talarico on Democratic walkout: ‘It's time to fight back'
Texas state Rep. James Talarico (D) urged his party to 'fight back' on Sunday as Democratic legislators left the Lone Star State in an effort to block Republicans from advancing House maps that would hand the GOP five extra pick-up opportunities before the 2026 midterms. 'My Democratic colleagues and I just left the state of Texas to break quorum and stop Trump's redistricting power grab. Trump is trying to rig the midterm elections right before our eyes. But first he'll have to come through us,' Talarico said in a thread on the social platform X. 'It's time to fight back.' 'They're turning our districts into crazy shapes to guarantee the outcome they want in the 2026 elections. If this power grab succeeds, they will hang on to power without any accountability from the voters. But Texas Democrats are fighting back,' he added in a video posted on the site. The Democratic legislator, who has drawn attention recently after being featured on Joe Rogan's podcast, told NewsNation's 'The Hill' show last week that Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) 'are trying to rig the next election.' 'I know that sounds dramatic, but … now by redrawing the political maps, they're trying to insulate themselves from the will of the voters,' he said. Talarico told KXAN late last week that he was open to breaking quorum to block the redistricting effort, but called such a move a 'last resort.' 'Breaking quorum is an extreme step, and it's not something that should be taken lightly,' he said. Texas state House Democrats said Sunday they were denying Republicans a quorum, or the least amount of lawmakers needed present in order to conduct legislative business, after a state House panel over the weekend advanced proposed congressional maps aiming to make Texas's district lines even friendlier to Republicans. Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu on Sunday accused Republicans of 'using an intentionally racist map to steal the voices of millions of Black and Latino Texans, all to execute a corrupt political deal.' 'Apathy is complicity, and we will not be complicit in the silencing of hard-working communities who have spent decades fighting for the power that Trump wants to steal,' Wu added in a statement. 'We're leaving the state, breaking quorum and preventing Republicans from silencing our voices and rigging the next election. We are not fighting for the Democratic Party. We are fighting for the democratic process, and the stakes could not be higher. We have to take a stand,' Talarico said Sunday.
Miami Herald
13 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Veteran trader posts a major warning for the stock market
Human beings and fear go back a long way. It's an ancient survival mechanism, passed down through the generations, as our cave-dwelling ancestors contended with wild animals, natural disasters and each other. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter The right kind of fear can keep you alive, but the wrong kind can keep you from making a move. "It's only natural," said TheStreet Pro's Stephen Guilfoyle. "Fear of the dark. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the known. You still do what you have to." Guilfoyle, whose trading career dates back to the floor of the New York Stock Exchange of the 1980s, in a recent column considered a certain kind of fear - where you're moving through an unfamiliar environment and you get a feeling you may have company. "Maybe a big cat or something predatory might be tracking you," he said. "That realization always makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I call that the 'nasties.'"The stock market can be a source of the nasties when the numbers start heading into the red, as they have been lately. And it's not the big cats you have to worry about in this jungle. It's the bears. More Experts Stocks and Markets Podcast: Prairie Operating CEO on energy businessDave Ramsey warns Americans on Social SecurityLegendary fund manager reveals new trades after S&P 500 rally Stocks were tumbling at last check on Aug. 1 on signs of a weakening economy. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said that just 73,000 jobs were created in July, causing the unemployment rate to tick up to 4.2% from 4.1% in June. President Donald Trump promptly fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, accusing her being a political appointee who was manipulating jobs data, CNBC reported. "We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY," Trump said on his Truth Social platform. "She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified." Trump also took another shot at the Federal Reserve chairman, saying that "Jerome 'Too Late' Powell should also be put 'out to pasture.'" Guilfoyle noted that things went bad on July 31 half an hour after the opening bell and "got uglier around lunchtime and uglier still going into the final hour of play." While Meta Platforms (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) rallied, Guilfoyle noted that the "joy" was put to the test early as the Bureau of Economic Analysis posted its July data for personal income and outlays as well as July consumer-level inflation. "Just a day after the quarterly data for inflation had put traders and investors at ease, the monthly data did just the opposite," he said. "Like a jaguar in the shadows, hard to see, watching from just far enough to raise those hairs on the back of your neck." He said Trump "put the whammy on 'big pharma,' sending letters to 17 leading drugmakers and demanding that these firms take steps to lower prices in the U.S. They have 60 days to get on board with his "most favored nation drug policy." Trump also signed an executive order revising tariffs on many nations that had failed to reach new trade deals with the U.S. Related: Warren Buffett sends White House blunt message on the economy "One must remember that while it may not look that ugly at the major index level, the selling was nearly constant on Thursday and markets sold off from an upward burst early on," Guilfoyle said. Eight of the 11 S&P sector SPDR ETFs closed in the red on July 31, and Guilfoyle, known on Wall Street as Sarge, called upon his military experience to explain what happens next. "So, this is where we realize that we may be up against something," he said. "This is where you stop moving, get low, unsnap your Ka-bar and switch your weapon off of 'safe.'" (The Ka-bar is a combat knife.) Losers beat winners by almost 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange and by almost 2 to 1 on the Nasdaq, Guilfoyle said Advancing volume took just a 32.9% share of composite NYSE-listed trade and a 36.1% share of Nasdaq-listed trade, he added. More important, "aggregate trading volume increased across the listings at both the NYSE and Nasdaq as well as across the membership of the S&P 500." "Gang, you know what that means, right?" he asked. "Thursday qualifies as a potential 'Day One' bearish reversal." He said that a large selloff on Aug. 1 would be seen as a continuation of Day 1 and that "we actually need to see a break or pause in between any Day 1 and any Day of Confirmation." (FYI: The S&P 500 finished Aug. 1 down 1.6%.) "Can anything help? Can anything make it worse?" he asked. "The algorithms that control the point of sale stand ready to overreact, force momentum overshoot and create market inefficiency." "You know that as this is what they are designed to do, so keep your helmet on and buckle your chinstrap," Guilfoyle added. Related: Veteran fund manager who forecast S&P 500 crash unveils surprising update The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
CNBC
14 minutes ago
- CNBC
Asia-Pacific stocks set to slip as investors weigh tariffs, OPEC+ output hike
Asia-Pacific markets are poised to open lower Monday as investors assess the latest Trump administration's new round of tariffs and jobs data report, which dragged Wall Street lower and fueled bets on a Fed rate cut next month. Investors will also be watching oil prices after OPEC+ concluded a slew of major output hikes. Good morning from Singapore. Investors are continuing to assess the U.S.'s latest tariffs which have now raised concerns over mounting inflation levels and an economic slowdown. They will also be keeping a watch on oil prices after OPEC+ agreed to raise production to 547,000 barrels per day in September. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to open lower, with the futures contract in Chicago at 39,965, while its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 39,900, against the index's Monday close of 40,799.60. Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood at 24,282 pointing to a weaker open compared with the HSI's last close of 24,507.81. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was set to start the day lower with futures tied to the benchmark at 8,587, compared with its last close of 8,662. — Amala Balakrishner Oil prices slipped on Friday, weighed down by a stronger U.S. dollar and the possibility that OPEC+ will further increase its crude oil output. Dado Ruvic | Reuters OPEC+ agreed on Sunday to raise oil production by 547,000 barrels per day for September, the latest in a series of accelerated output hikes to regain market share, as concerns mount over potential supply disruptions linked to Russia. OPEC+ cited a healthy economy and low stocks as reasons behind its decision. "Given fairly strong oil prices at around $70, it does give OPEC+ some confidence about market fundamentals," said Amrita Sen, co-founder of Energy Aspects, adding that the market structure was also indicating tight stocks. In early Asian trade on Monday, Brent crude futures fell 43 cents, or 0.62%, to $69.24 a barrel by 2218 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $66.94 a barrel, down 39 cents, or 0.58%, after both contracts closed about $2 a barrel lower on Friday. Read more here. — Reuters Stocks closed lower on Friday, after a weaker-than-expected jobs report worried investors that the economy is meaningfully slowing down. The S&P 500 slipped 1.6% to close 6,238.01, while the Nasdaq Composite pulled back 2.24% 20,650.13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 542.40 points, or 1.23%, to finish the session 43,588.58. — Brian Evans
