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First Post
an hour ago
- Business
- First Post
‘We can do whatever we want': Trump signals flexibility on July 9 deadline for reciprocal tariffs
Trump introduced his controversial reciprocal tariff regime on nearly all imports in April; however, the move was soon followed by a 90-day grace period read more US President Donald Trump Friday (June 27) said the July 9 deadline for reinstating his reciprocal tariff regime was flexible, arguing he could do 'whatever' he wanted. 'We can do whatever we want. We could extend it. We could make it shorter. I'd like to make it shorter. I'd like to just send letters out to everybody: Congratulations, you're paying 25 per cent,' he told reporters at the White House. The Trump administration seems to have ramped up efforts to close trade deals following a period of greater focus on security in West Asia and intense debate over a major tax and spending package in Congress. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Earlier this week, the US submitted a fresh proposal to the European Union. On Friday, the US leader said he was cutting off trade talks with Canada 'immediately' in response to a proposal to impose a tax on American big tech companies. 'We are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately,' he 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.' India has also dispatched a team to Washington to continue trade discussions after it was reported that trade talks have stalled following serious disagreements. 'Strong interest by countries' US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hinted at potential extension of the deadline, hoping that the agreements would be reached by Labor Day (September 1). 'We're seeing strong interest from countries offering solid deals,' Bessent said in an interview. 'We've got 18 key trading partners. If we can finalise agreements with 10 or 12 of them, and we're already engaging with another 20 significant economies, we could have trade wrapped up by Labor Day,' Bessent said. White House Press Secretary on Thursday first signalled that the administration was open to shifting the July 8-9 deadline, calling the dates 'not critical'. 'If countries don't come to the table, the president has the option to simply present them with a deal,' Leavitt said. Trump introduced his controversial reciprocal tariff regime on nearly all imports in April; however, the move was soon followed by a 90-day grace period. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Yomiuri Shimbun
2 hours ago
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Deal with Beijing Will Speed China's Export of Minerals to the US, Treasury Secretary Says
BANGKOK (AP) — Washington and Beijing have signed a trade agreement that will make it easier for American firms to obtain magnets and rare earth minerals from China that are critical to manufacturing and microchip production, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday. The agreement comes after China retaliated against steep import tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Chinese goods and moved to slow export of rare earth minerals and magnets much-needed by U.S. industrial interests. Bessent said on Fox Business Network's 'Mornings with Maria' that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping 'had a phone call' previously 'and then our teams met in London, ironed this out, and I am confident now that we, as agreed, the magnets will flow.' 'Part of the agreement was tariffs coming down and rare earth magnets starting to flow back to the U.S.,' Bessent said. 'They formed the core of a lot of our industrial base. They were not flowing as fast as previously agreed.' His comments follow President Donald Trump announcing two weeks earlier an agreement with China that he said would ease exportation of magnets and rare earth minerals That pact cleared the way for the trade talks to continue. The U.S. has previously suspended some sales to China of critical U.S. technologies like components used for jet engines and semiconductors. It has also agreed to stop trying to revoke visas of Chinese nationals on U.S. college campuses. Bessent added of critical mineral exports: 'What we're seeing here is a de-escalation.' Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg TV that the deal was signed earlier this week. China's Commerce Ministry said Friday that the two sides had 'further confirmed the details of the framework,' when responding to a question about if China was to speed up exports of rare earths to the U.S. and if the U.S. was to remove some restrictions on China. 'China will, in accordance with the law, review and approve eligible export applications for controlled items. In turn, the United States will lift a series of restrictive measures it had imposed on China,' the ministry said. Initial talks in Geneva in early May led both sides to postpone massive tariff hikes that were threatening to freeze much trade between the two countries. Later talks in London set a framework for negotiations and the deal mentioned by Trump appeared to formalize that agreement — setting the stage for Bessent's comments on Friday. In London, export controls of the minerals eclipsed tariffs in the trade negotiations after China in April imposed permitting requirements on seven rare earth elements, per a Chinese law that applies to all exports, not just those bound for the U.S. market. With the permitting process taking 45 days, the new requirement has caused a pause in shipments, threatening to disrupt production of cars, robots, wind turbines and other high-tech products in the U.S. and around the world. The U.S., meanwhile, took restrictive measures on exports of high tech to China. By the latest agreement, China does not remove the permitting requirement on rare earths but retains the flexibility to dial up or down the approval process as needed. Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Washington-based think tank Stimson Center, said Beijing has only tightened its overall policy on rare earths but has the discretion on how to implement it. 'That's the Chinese style,' she said. 'If all goes well, permit happens. If things go in a wrong direction, like U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, permits gone with wind.' China also has taken steps recently on the fentanyl issue, announcing last week that it would designate two more substances as precursor chemicals for fentanyl, making them subject to production, transport and export regulations. Trump has demanded that Beijing do more to stop the flow of such precursor ingredients to Mexican drug cartels, which use them to make fentanyl for sale in the U.S. He imposed 20% tariffs on Chinese imports over the fentanyl issue, the biggest part of current 30% across-the-board taxes on Chinese goods. The agreement struck in May in Geneva called for both sides to scale back punitive tariff hikes imposed as Trump escalated his trade war and sharply raised import duties. Some higher tariffs, such as those imposed by Washington related to the trade in fentanyl and duties on aluminum and steel, remain in place. The rapidly shifting policies are taking a toll on both of the world's two largest economies. The U.S. economy contracted at a 0.5% annual pace from January through March, partly because imports surged as companies and households rushed to buy foreign goods before Trump could impose tariffs on them. In China, factory profits sank more than 9% from a year earlier in May, with automakers suffering a large share of that drop. They fell more than 1% year-on-year in January-May. Trump and other U.S. officials have indicated they expect to reach trade deals with many other countries, including India. 'We're going to have deal after deal after deal,' Lutnick said.
The Advertiser
3 hours ago
- Business
- The Advertiser
Trump cuts off trade talks with Canada over digital tax
US President Donald Trump has abruptly cut off trade talks with Canada over its tax targeting US technology firms, calling it a "blatant attack" and saying that he would set a new tariff rate on Canadian goods within the next week. The move plunges US relations with its second-largest trading partner back into chaos after a period of relative calm. It also came just hours after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent struck an upbeat tone on trade, touting progress had been made with China on reviving the flow of critical minerals for the US manufacturing sector and in other key tariff negotiations. The often-chaotic rollout of Trump's import levies since his return to office this year have frequently whipsawed financial markets, and have begun to weigh on consumer spending, the bedrock of the US economy. US stocks were briefly batted lower by his broadside against Canada but managed to close out the week at record highs for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. Trump's action comes ahead of Canada's plans to begin collecting on Monday a longstanding digital services tax on US technology firms including Amazon, Meta, Alphabet's Google and Apple among others. The tax is 3.0 per cent of the digital services revenue a firm takes in from Canadian users above $US20 million ($A31 million) in a calendar year, and payments will be retroactive to 2022. Trump, in a post on his Truth Social media platform, called the tax "a direct and blatant attack on our country" and said Canada was a "very difficult country to TRADE with". "Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately," Trump said. "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." Canada is the second-largest US trading partner after Mexico, buying $US349.4 billion of US goods last year and exporting $US412.7 billion to the US, according to US Census Bureau data. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had said on June 16 he and Trump agreed to try to wrap up a new economic and security deal within 30 days. "The Canadian government will continue to engage in these complex negotiations with the United States in the best interests of Canadian workers and businesses," Carney's office said in a statement. Earlier on Friday, Bessent said the Trump administration's various trade deals with other countries could be done by the September 1 Labor Day holiday, citing talks with 18 top trade partners and another revision to a deal with China to reopen the flow of rare earth minerals and magnets. The United States sent a new proposal to the European Union on Thursday and India sent a delegation to Washington DC for more talks. "So we have countries approaching us with very good deals," Bessent said on Fox Business Network. "We have 18 important trading partners. ... 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 Labor Day," Bessent said. He did not mention any changes to a July 9 deadline for countries to reach deals with the United States or see tariffs spike higher but has previously said that countries negotiating in good faith could get deals. But Trump told reporters at the White House that he could extend the tariff deadline or "make it shorter," adding that within the next week and a half, he would notify countries of their tariff rates. "I'd like to just send letters out to everybody: Congratulations. You're paying 25 per cent" tariffs, Trump said in an apparent joke. Bessent said the United States and China had resolved issues surrounding shipments of Chinese rare earth minerals and magnets to the US, further modifying a deal reached in May in Geneva. China's commerce ministry said on Friday the two countries have confirmed details on the framework of implementing the Geneva trade talks consensus. It said China will approve export applications of controlled items in accordance with the law. It did not mention rare earths. US President Donald Trump has abruptly cut off trade talks with Canada over its tax targeting US technology firms, calling it a "blatant attack" and saying that he would set a new tariff rate on Canadian goods within the next week. The move plunges US relations with its second-largest trading partner back into chaos after a period of relative calm. It also came just hours after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent struck an upbeat tone on trade, touting progress had been made with China on reviving the flow of critical minerals for the US manufacturing sector and in other key tariff negotiations. The often-chaotic rollout of Trump's import levies since his return to office this year have frequently whipsawed financial markets, and have begun to weigh on consumer spending, the bedrock of the US economy. US stocks were briefly batted lower by his broadside against Canada but managed to close out the week at record highs for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. Trump's action comes ahead of Canada's plans to begin collecting on Monday a longstanding digital services tax on US technology firms including Amazon, Meta, Alphabet's Google and Apple among others. The tax is 3.0 per cent of the digital services revenue a firm takes in from Canadian users above $US20 million ($A31 million) in a calendar year, and payments will be retroactive to 2022. Trump, in a post on his Truth Social media platform, called the tax "a direct and blatant attack on our country" and said Canada was a "very difficult country to TRADE with". "Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately," Trump said. "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." Canada is the second-largest US trading partner after Mexico, buying $US349.4 billion of US goods last year and exporting $US412.7 billion to the US, according to US Census Bureau data. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had said on June 16 he and Trump agreed to try to wrap up a new economic and security deal within 30 days. "The Canadian government will continue to engage in these complex negotiations with the United States in the best interests of Canadian workers and businesses," Carney's office said in a statement. Earlier on Friday, Bessent said the Trump administration's various trade deals with other countries could be done by the September 1 Labor Day holiday, citing talks with 18 top trade partners and another revision to a deal with China to reopen the flow of rare earth minerals and magnets. The United States sent a new proposal to the European Union on Thursday and India sent a delegation to Washington DC for more talks. "So we have countries approaching us with very good deals," Bessent said on Fox Business Network. "We have 18 important trading partners. ... 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 Labor Day," Bessent said. He did not mention any changes to a July 9 deadline for countries to reach deals with the United States or see tariffs spike higher but has previously said that countries negotiating in good faith could get deals. But Trump told reporters at the White House that he could extend the tariff deadline or "make it shorter," adding that within the next week and a half, he would notify countries of their tariff rates. "I'd like to just send letters out to everybody: Congratulations. You're paying 25 per cent" tariffs, Trump said in an apparent joke. Bessent said the United States and China had resolved issues surrounding shipments of Chinese rare earth minerals and magnets to the US, further modifying a deal reached in May in Geneva. China's commerce ministry said on Friday the two countries have confirmed details on the framework of implementing the Geneva trade talks consensus. It said China will approve export applications of controlled items in accordance with the law. It did not mention rare earths. US President Donald Trump has abruptly cut off trade talks with Canada over its tax targeting US technology firms, calling it a "blatant attack" and saying that he would set a new tariff rate on Canadian goods within the next week. The move plunges US relations with its second-largest trading partner back into chaos after a period of relative calm. It also came just hours after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent struck an upbeat tone on trade, touting progress had been made with China on reviving the flow of critical minerals for the US manufacturing sector and in other key tariff negotiations. The often-chaotic rollout of Trump's import levies since his return to office this year have frequently whipsawed financial markets, and have begun to weigh on consumer spending, the bedrock of the US economy. US stocks were briefly batted lower by his broadside against Canada but managed to close out the week at record highs for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. Trump's action comes ahead of Canada's plans to begin collecting on Monday a longstanding digital services tax on US technology firms including Amazon, Meta, Alphabet's Google and Apple among others. The tax is 3.0 per cent of the digital services revenue a firm takes in from Canadian users above $US20 million ($A31 million) in a calendar year, and payments will be retroactive to 2022. Trump, in a post on his Truth Social media platform, called the tax "a direct and blatant attack on our country" and said Canada was a "very difficult country to TRADE with". "Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately," Trump said. "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." Canada is the second-largest US trading partner after Mexico, buying $US349.4 billion of US goods last year and exporting $US412.7 billion to the US, according to US Census Bureau data. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had said on June 16 he and Trump agreed to try to wrap up a new economic and security deal within 30 days. "The Canadian government will continue to engage in these complex negotiations with the United States in the best interests of Canadian workers and businesses," Carney's office said in a statement. Earlier on Friday, Bessent said the Trump administration's various trade deals with other countries could be done by the September 1 Labor Day holiday, citing talks with 18 top trade partners and another revision to a deal with China to reopen the flow of rare earth minerals and magnets. The United States sent a new proposal to the European Union on Thursday and India sent a delegation to Washington DC for more talks. "So we have countries approaching us with very good deals," Bessent said on Fox Business Network. "We have 18 important trading partners. ... 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 Labor Day," Bessent said. He did not mention any changes to a July 9 deadline for countries to reach deals with the United States or see tariffs spike higher but has previously said that countries negotiating in good faith could get deals. But Trump told reporters at the White House that he could extend the tariff deadline or "make it shorter," adding that within the next week and a half, he would notify countries of their tariff rates. "I'd like to just send letters out to everybody: Congratulations. You're paying 25 per cent" tariffs, Trump said in an apparent joke. Bessent said the United States and China had resolved issues surrounding shipments of Chinese rare earth minerals and magnets to the US, further modifying a deal reached in May in Geneva. China's commerce ministry said on Friday the two countries have confirmed details on the framework of implementing the Geneva trade talks consensus. It said China will approve export applications of controlled items in accordance with the law. It did not mention rare earths. US President Donald Trump has abruptly cut off trade talks with Canada over its tax targeting US technology firms, calling it a "blatant attack" and saying that he would set a new tariff rate on Canadian goods within the next week. The move plunges US relations with its second-largest trading partner back into chaos after a period of relative calm. It also came just hours after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent struck an upbeat tone on trade, touting progress had been made with China on reviving the flow of critical minerals for the US manufacturing sector and in other key tariff negotiations. The often-chaotic rollout of Trump's import levies since his return to office this year have frequently whipsawed financial markets, and have begun to weigh on consumer spending, the bedrock of the US economy. US stocks were briefly batted lower by his broadside against Canada but managed to close out the week at record highs for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. Trump's action comes ahead of Canada's plans to begin collecting on Monday a longstanding digital services tax on US technology firms including Amazon, Meta, Alphabet's Google and Apple among others. The tax is 3.0 per cent of the digital services revenue a firm takes in from Canadian users above $US20 million ($A31 million) in a calendar year, and payments will be retroactive to 2022. Trump, in a post on his Truth Social media platform, called the tax "a direct and blatant attack on our country" and said Canada was a "very difficult country to TRADE with". "Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately," Trump said. "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." Canada is the second-largest US trading partner after Mexico, buying $US349.4 billion of US goods last year and exporting $US412.7 billion to the US, according to US Census Bureau data. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had said on June 16 he and Trump agreed to try to wrap up a new economic and security deal within 30 days. "The Canadian government will continue to engage in these complex negotiations with the United States in the best interests of Canadian workers and businesses," Carney's office said in a statement. Earlier on Friday, Bessent said the Trump administration's various trade deals with other countries could be done by the September 1 Labor Day holiday, citing talks with 18 top trade partners and another revision to a deal with China to reopen the flow of rare earth minerals and magnets. The United States sent a new proposal to the European Union on Thursday and India sent a delegation to Washington DC for more talks. "So we have countries approaching us with very good deals," Bessent said on Fox Business Network. "We have 18 important trading partners. ... 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 Labor Day," Bessent said. He did not mention any changes to a July 9 deadline for countries to reach deals with the United States or see tariffs spike higher but has previously said that countries negotiating in good faith could get deals. But Trump told reporters at the White House that he could extend the tariff deadline or "make it shorter," adding that within the next week and a half, he would notify countries of their tariff rates. "I'd like to just send letters out to everybody: Congratulations. You're paying 25 per cent" tariffs, Trump said in an apparent joke. Bessent said the United States and China had resolved issues surrounding shipments of Chinese rare earth minerals and magnets to the US, further modifying a deal reached in May in Geneva. China's commerce ministry said on Friday the two countries have confirmed details on the framework of implementing the Geneva trade talks consensus. It said China will approve export applications of controlled items in accordance with the law. It did not mention rare earths.
Straits Times
4 hours ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Democrat Wyden presses Bessent to commit to US sanctions on Russia
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the 2025 budget on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 21, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo WASHINGTON - The top Senate Finance Committee Democrat pressed U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday to commit to enforcing Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia and to clarify comments about Russia rejoining an international bank payments network. In a letter to Bessent, Senator Ron Wyden also sought answers on how the U.S.-Ukraine critical minerals deal and investment agreement would help improve Ukraine's post-war security and not benefit any entity or country that aided Russia's war effort. Wyden cited Bessent's comments during his confirmation hearing that he was prepared to strengthen Russian sanctions, including on oil majors, if Trump requested this to help end the Ukraine war, which Bessent called "one of the greatest tragedies of my adult life." "I ask that you reaffirm your commitment to stringently enforce these sanctions and answer questions about how you envision other measures pursued by this administration, including agreements with Ukraine, potentially working in conjunction with these sanctions," Wyden wrote. The Oregon Democrat, who has opposed most of Trump's trade and tax agenda advanced by Bessent, asked the Treasury chief to explain comments he made to Fox News Channel in which he did not rule out bringing Russia back into the SWIFT international banking network. Russia was expelled from the payments messaging system after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. "Would Treasury allow Russian banks to rejoin SWIFT absent a comprehensive peace agreement with Ukraine that fully addresses Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine?" Wyden asked in a series of questions for Bessent to answer. Wyden also asked whether Bessent would continue the U.S. Treasury's implementation of commitments by G7 leaders to curtail Russia's use of the international financial system to support its war against Ukraine. A Treasury spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wyden's letter. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
San Francisco Chronicle
5 hours ago
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
U.S., China announce a trade agreement - again. Here's what it means
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and China have reached an agreement — again — to deescalate trade tensions. But details are scarce, and the latest pact leaves major issues between the world's two biggest economies unresolved. President Donald Trump said late Thursday that a deal with China had been signed "the other day.'' China's Commerce Ministry confirmed Friday that some type of arrangement had been reached but offered few details about it. Sudden shifts and a lack of clarity have been hallmarks of Trump's trade policy since he returned to the White House determined to overturn a global trading system that he says is unfair to the United States and its workers. He's been engaged for months in a battle with China that has mostly revealed how much pain the two countries can inflict on each other. And he's racing against a July 8 deadline to reach deals with other major U.S. trading partners. The uncertainty over his dealmaking and the cost of the tariffs, which are paid by U.S. importers and usually passed on to consumers, have raised worries about the outlook for the U.S. economy. And although analysts welcomed the apparent easing of tensions with China, they also warned that the issues dividing Washington and Beijing are unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. What did the two sides agree to? U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday that the Chinese had agreed to make it easier for American firms to acquire Chinese magnets and rare earth minerals critical for manufacturing and microchip production. Beijing had slowed exports of the materials amid a bitter trade dispute with the Trump administration. Without explicitly mentioning U.S. access to rare earths, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said that 'China will, in accordance with the law, review and approve eligible export applications for controlled items. In turn, the United States will lift a series of restrictive measures it had imposed on China.'' The Chinese have complained about U.S. controls on exports of advanced U.S. technology to China. But the ministry statement did not specifically say whether the United States planned to ease or lift those controls. In his interview on Fox Business Network's 'Mornings with Maria,' Bessent mentioned that the United States had earlier imposed 'countermeasures'' against China and 'had held back some vital supplies for them.'' "What we're seeing here is a de-escalation under President Trump's leadership,'' Bessent said, without spelling out what concessions the United States had made or whether they involved America's export controls. Jeff Moon, a trade official in the Obama administration who now runs the China Moon Strategies consultancy, wondered why Trump hadn't disclosed details of the agreement two days after it had been reached. 'Silence regarding the terms suggests that there is less substance to the deal than the Trump Administration implies,″ said Moon, who also served as a diplomat in China. Wait. This sounds familiar. How did we get here? The agreement that emerged Thursday and Friday builds on a "framework'' that Trump announced June 11 after two days of high-level U.S.-China talks in London. Then, he announced, China had agreed to ease restrictions on rare earths. In return, the United States said it would stop seeking to revoke the visas of Chinese students on U.S. college campuses. And last month, after another meeting in Geneva, the two countries had agreed to dramatically reduce massive taxes they'd slapped on each other's products, which had reached as high as 145% against China and 125% against the U.S. Those triple-digit tariffs threatened to effectively end trade between the United States and China and caused a frightening sell-off in financial markets. In Geneva, the two countries agreed to back off and keep talking: America's tariffs went back down to a still-high 30% and China's to 10%. That led to the talks in London earlier this month and to this week's announcement. Where does all this leave U.S.-China economic relations? If nothing else, the two countries are trying to ratchet down tensions after demonstrating how much they can hurt each other. 'The U.S. and China appear to be easing the chokeholds they had on each other's economies through export controls on computer chips and rare earth minerals, respectively,' said Eswar Prasad, professor of trade policy at Cornell University. "This is a positive step but a far cry from signaling prospects of a substantial de-escalation of tariffs and other trade hostilities.'' Trump launched a trade war with China in his first term, imposing tariffs on most Chinese goods in a dispute over China's attempts to supplant U.S. technological supremacy. Trump's trade team charged that China was unfairly subsidizing its own tech companies, forcing U.S. and other foreign companies to hand over sensitive technology in exchange for access to the Chinese market and even engaging outright theft of trade secrets. The squabbling and negotiating of the past few months appear to have done little to resolve Washington's complaints about unfair Chinese trade practices and America's massive trade deficit with China, which came to $262 billion last year. This week's agreement 'includes absolutely nothing related to the U.S.'s concerns regarding China's trade surplus or non-market behavior,'' said Scott Kennedy of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 'If the two sides can implement these elements of the ceasefire, then they could begin negotiations on issues which generated the initial escalation in tensions in the first place.'' What is happening with Trump's other tariffs? Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has made aggressive use of tariffs. In addition to his levies on China, he has imposed "baseline'' 10% taxes on imports from every country in the world . And he's announced even higher taxes — so-called reciprocal tariffs ranging from 11% to 50% — on countries with which the United States runs a trade deficit. But after financial markets sank on fears of massive disruption to world trade, Trump suspended the reciprocal levies for 90 days to give countries a chance to negotiate reductions in their barriers to U.S. exports. That pause lasts until July 8. On Friday, Bessent told Fox Business Network that the talks could extend beyond the deadline and be 'wrapped up by Labor Day'' Sept. 1 with 10 to 12 of America's most important trading partners. Trump further played down the July 8 deadline at a White House press conference Friday by noting that negotiations are ongoing but that 'we have 200 countries, you could say 200 countries-plus. You can't do that.' Instead of new trade deals, Trump said his administration would in coming days or weeks send out a letter where 'we're just gonna tell them what they have to pay to do business in the United States.'' Separately, Trump took sudden aim at Canada Friday, saying on social media that he's immediately suspending trade talks with that country over its plan to impose a tax on technology firms next Monday. Trump called Canada's digital services tax 'a direct and blatant attack on our country.' The digital services tax will hit companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, Uber and Airbnb with a 3% levy on revenue from Canadian users. It will apply retroactively, leaving U.S. companies with a $2 billion bill due at the end of the month.
