US to make several trade announcements in next 48 hours, Treasury secretary says
"We've 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," Bessent said in an interview with CNBC. "So it's going to be a busy couple of days."
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.
Bessent 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.
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The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump tariffs explained: what's changed and why have Asian countries been hit so hard?
US President Donald Trump has ramped up threats to impose punishing tariffs on more than a dozen nations unless they can broker a deal before 1 August, marking the latest phase in his trade war. The tax duties stem from Trump's so-called 'reciprocal' tariff package that was first announced in April, but then delayed for 90 days to allow for negotiations. That deadline, initially scheduled to end this week, has now been pushed back to August. The shifting timeline of the most significant US tariff increases in nearly a century has roiled global markets and caused widespread confusion, with the US administration far off from sealing the '90 deals in 90 days' it had initially promised. If you are perplexed by Trump's tariffs here is the latest. Trump informed powerhouse suppliers Japan, South Korea and 12 other nations at the start of this week that they will face tariffs of at least 25% starting from August unless they can quickly negotiate deals. He also threatened to increase them if any countries retaliate, or tried to circumvent tariffs by sending goods through other nations. Trump has kept much of the world guessing on the outcome of months of talks with countries hoping to avoid the hefty tariff hikes he has threatened. The rate for South Korea is the same as Trump initially announced, while the rate for Japan is one percentage point higher than that announced in April. Fourteen countries have been given notice this week of the looming tariffs increase, with more expected to follow in the coming days. The steep tariff rates range from 25-40% with some of the harshest levies imposed on developing nations in southeast Asia, including 32% for Indonesia, 36% for Cambodia and Thailand and 40% on Laos, and Myanmar, a country riven by years of civil war. Manufacturing hub Bangladesh faces 35%, while Tunisia, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, South Africa and Bosnia and Herzegovina have been slapped with a 30% tariff unless they can reach a deal. Trump granted a 90-day pause this April to allow for time to broker trade deals, but only two deals have been reached. The first deal with the UK, signed on 8 May, includes a 10% of most UK goods, including cars, and zero tariffs for steel and aluminium. A second deal was reached with Vietnam last week that sets a 20% tariff for much of its exports, although the full details are unclear, with no text released. Relations with China, after escalating into a major trade war, have reached a delicate truce. US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said he expected several trade announcements in the next 48 hours, adding that his inbox was full of last-ditch offers from affected nations. South Korea's president convened an emergency meeting and its trade ministry said the country would use the extended deadline to negotiate 'mutually beneficial results'. The EU reportedly aims to reach a trade deal by Wednesday. Meanwhile other nations such as South Africa have hit back, with the country's president Cyril Ramaphosa saying the 30% US tariff rate was unjustified given that 77% of US goods enter South Africa with zero tariffs. US stocks have fallen in response, the latest market turmoil as Trump's trade moves have roiled financial markets and sent policymakers scrambling to protect their economies. The S&P 500 closed down about 0.8%, its biggest drop in three weeks. US-listed shares of Japanese automotive companies fell, with Toyota Motor closing down 4% and Honda Motor off by 3.9%. The US dollar has had its worst first half-year in more than 50 years. 'Tariff talk has sucked the wind out of the sails of the market,' Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management, told Reuters. Countries in Asia have been hit with some of the most punitive tariffs due to what Trump claims is their unfair trade deficits – meaning they export more to the US than they import. However, analysts have questions the merit of using these calculations and also suggested that Trump may instead be trying to punish China, by targeting countries that receive substantial investment from the world's second-largest economy. Several nations in Southeast Asia, a region that accounted for 7.2% of global GDP in 2024, are also major manufacturing hubs for goods such as textiles and footwear, meaning they will be severely affected by tariffs, while conversely prices for such goods will also rise in the US. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told a press briefing this week that more countries would be informed of looming tariffs this week. Trump was 'close' on other deals, she added, but 'wants to ensure these are the best deals possible'. However, the minimal progress on deals to date highlights what trade experts say is the reality of trade agreements – that they are time-consuming and complicated.
Daily Mail
34 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Reverend boyfriend of Houston mayoral appointee breaks silence to disavow 'inappropriate' Camp Mystic flood comments
A Texas reverend has issued a damning statement disavowing his girlfriend after she criticized a camp where 27 little girls and their counselors perished in floodwaters. Reverend Colin Bossen, a senior minister at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, issued a statement to congregants on Monday slamming cruel comments made by his partner Sade Perkins about the Fourth of July weekend tragedy. Perkins condemned the 'whites only conservative Christian camp' and said MAGA loyalists 'would be saying they deserve it and that it's God's will' if the children who died were Latino or LGBTQI. When she was publicly denounced for her comments, she doubled down in a series of increasingly unhinged videos, first blaming Trump for the once-in-a-generation floods and then addressed 'racism and white supremacy.' In a statement obtained by reverend Bossen slammed his partner's remarks and reassured congregants he disagreed with her. 'My partner Sadé Perkins has made comments on social media regarding the horrific flooding that devastated Camp Mystic,' he wrote. 'I want to be clear that I disavow her comments.' Reverend Bossen accepted that even though 'she was not speaking on my behalf or on behalf of my congregation... her comments have caused harm to many who are experiencing terrible loss and anxiety. 'I believe strongly that all people have inherent worthiness and dignity. 'Her comments were not in the spirit of the Unitarian Universalist values centered around love that my congregation and I share.' He said he was 'deeply sorry for the harm' Perkins has 'caused to the Camp Mystic families and the members of the community of Central Texas and along the Guadalupe River who are grieving or anxiously awaiting word about their loved ones. 'I apologize to my congregation who has experienced harm because of her comments. I will continue to work to repair the harm this incident has caused.' The board president of the church, Joan Waddill, also issued a statement trying to distance her church from Perkins' controversial remarks. 'Like everybody in Texas, indeed any person who has heard of the terrible loss of life along the Guadalupe River, we are shocked and saddened by the enormity of our loss,' she said. 'Our core values include a belief in the interconnected web of life and the value of every individual. Thus, we find ourselves in mourning.' Waddill said Perkins 'is affiliated with our church, but not a member or on our staff' when referring to the 'offensive remarks on social media about these deaths' she made. 'She was not speaking for the church, but only for herself. Indeed, her comments contradict the core values of our church. 'We are horrified to be associated with these comments. 'We extend a hand to this person to try to help her recognize the insensitivity of her behavior while we extend our other hand and what help we might provide to the families who have been devastated by these deaths.' Perkins issued her first critique of the camp just hours after the heavy deluge ripped through in the early hours of the Fourth of July, sweeping away cabins which housed primarily eight and nine year old campgoers and their counselors. 'I know I'm going to get cancelled for this, but Camp Mystic is a white-only girls' Christian camp,' she raged on TikTok as girls were still missing. 'They don't even have a token Asian. They don't have a token black person. It's an all-white, white-only conservative Christian camp.' Perkins was admonished by Houston Mayor John Whitmire, who said he would take steps to remove her from the City's Food Insecurity Board. 'The comments shared on social media are deeply inappropriate and have no place in decent society, especially as families grieve the confirmed deaths and the ongoing search for the missing,' Whitmire said. Reverend Bossen accepted that even though 'she was not speaking on my behalf or on behalf of my congregation... her comments have caused harm to many who are experiencing terrible loss and anxiety' Whitmire said steps were being taken immediately 'to remove her permanently from the board' and vowed he 'has no plans to reappoint her.' But Perkins had no regrets after being publicly scolded by the mayor, instead doubling down on her extraordinary attack on the camp. 'You people are f**king crazy, you people are insane,' she said of her critics. 'And the video is still up and I still stand behind - 10 toes down on the motherf***ing ground. 'That s**t is racism and white supremacy, period. 'If it was Hispanic kids, if it was LGBTQ kids that got swept away y'all wouldnt give a f**k and them same MAGA people would be saying they deserve it and that it's God's will, so f**k all y'all.' Addressing Mayor Whitmire's comments head-on, Perkins said: 'Mayor Whitmire is a piece of s**t.' She blamed Trump, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick for the tragedy, describing it as 'totally preventable.' She complained she had become 'the scapegoat to cover up for the f***up of a flood', instead arguing the 'reason' for the natural disaster was 'of course your friendly MAGA Trump up there in the White House.' Sade Perkins vented her frustrations against the 'whites only Christian camp' hours after a heavy deluge ripped through Camp Mystic in Hunt on the Fourth of July 'I did not cause the flood, nor did I cause the failure from the National Weather Service and FEMA. Those were done by design, by the Lieutenant, and by the Governor, and your f***ing President,' she said. In all, at least 104 people perished in the flash flooding, including 27 campers and their counselors. Another 10 campers and one counselor, 19-year-old Katherine Ferruzzo, remain missing. A tragic photo of 13 campers and their two counselors has emerged from Camp Mystic, showing a group of girls who were inside one of the cabins which was swept away in the unprecedented floods. Renee Smajstrla, eight, Janie Hunt, nine, and Alabama native Sarah Marsh, 8, all perished when the camp was washed away by the flood waters. Best friends Lila Bonner, 9, and Eloise Peck, 8, were also killed in the devastating flooding. The bodies of Anna Margaret Bellows, 8, Lainey Landry, 9, and camp counselor Chloe Childress were recovered on Sunday evening. Camp Mystic director Richard 'Dick' Eastland, 70, was also among the casualties. He died while trying to rescue campers from the biblical rushing waters as they struck his grounds. The camp director's wife, Tweety, was found safe at their home. The Eastlands have owned and operated Camp Mystic since 1974, and many viewed him as a father figure at the camp. 'It doesn't surprise me at all that his last act of kindness and sacrifice was working to save the lives of campers,' The Kerrville Daily Times guest columnist Paige Sumner said in a tribute to Eastland. Governor Abbott said the banks of the Guadalupe River, where some 750 girls had been staying when the floodwaters hit, had been 'horrendously ravaged in ways unlike I've seen in any natural disaster.' 'The height the rushing water reached to the top of the cabins was shocking,' he said on X after visiting the camp on Saturday. Photos show the summer camp was destroyed after the deadly floodwaters wrecked the grounds. Windows in the cabins were shattered and the interiors were completely covered in mud, with campers belongings in disarray. Camp Mystic was due to celebrate its hundredth year, and has a long and illustrious history as the camp of choice for well-off families in Texas. The daughter of multiple governors and former First Lady Laura Bush are just some of the alumni. Nine-year-old Janie Hunt, who perished in the floods, was the great-granddaughter of late billionaire William Herbert Hunt, whose brother was the founder of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Reuters
38 minutes ago
- Reuters
Shares steady, dollar firms on US tariff letters; oil dips
TOKYO, July 8 (Reuters) - Stock markets in Asia took in stride the latest twist in U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff roll-out on Tuesday, as the dollar held onto gains and oil retreated. Shares on Wall Street fell after Trump sent letters to 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea, unveiling sharply higher tariffs on imports into the United States, while also postponing their implementation to August 1. Japan's Nikkei stock gauge (.N225), opens new tab opened lower but then turned positive after Trump described that deadline as "firm, but not 100% firm" and said tariffs may be adjusted for some countries. The Aussie dollar rose ahead of a Reserve Bank of Australia decision later in the day. Market reaction to the tariff announcements was muted on memories of Trump's rapid walk back of his "Liberation Day" duties initially set out on April 2, said Tapas Strickland, head of market economics at National Australia Bank. "There's going to be a lot of volatility as the headlines start to emerge, as more of these letters come out, and as the negotiations really come to the fore ahead of that August 1 deadline," Strickland said on an NAB podcast. In April, Trump capped all of the so-called reciprocal tariffs with trading partners at 10% until July 9 to allow for negotiations. Only two agreements, with Britain and Vietnam, have been reached. In June, Washington and Beijing agreed on a framework covering tariff rates, restoring a fragile truce in their trade war. Tariffs on Japan and South Korea are now due to go up to 25% on August 1. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba called the hike deeply regrettable and said his nation would continue negotiations with the U.S. The European Union will not be receiving a letter setting out higher tariffs, EU sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday. The EU still aims to reach a trade deal by Wednesday after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Trump had a "good exchange," a commission spokesperson said. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab was up 0.2% in early trade. Japan's Nikkei stock index (.N225), opens new tab rose 0.4% while South Korea's KOSPI (.KS11), opens new tab jumped 1.5%. The dollar rose 0.2% to 146.36 yen , touching a two-week high. The euro was flat at $1.1741. The Aussie advanced 0.4% to $0.6516 before a meeting by the central bank where policymakers are widely expected to deliver a 25-basis-point cut. U.S. crude dipped 0.5% to $67.59 a barrel after surging nearly 2% on Monday. Spot gold edged 0.2% lower. In early trade, pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures were down 0.1%, German DAX futures were down 0.1% at 24,133, and FTSE futures slid 0.3%.
