Latest news with #ScottBessent
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Bessent says trade talks could be finished by Labor Day
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday signaled that the Trump administration's tariff negotiations with more than a dozen trading partners could stretch until September. 'We have 18 important trading partners — U.K., China are behind us for now — and then Secretary [Howard] Lutnick said yesterday that he expects 10 more deals. So, 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 told Fox Business's Maria Bartiromo. President Donald Trump on Friday also told reporters the previously announced July deadline remains flexible during a press conference. "We can do whatever we want," Trump said. "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 percent.'" The comments echo similar messaging from other administration officials, including White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Stephen Miran, who said Thursday that Trump may decide to extend the previously announced July 8 deadline for certain countries. 'As President Trump has said, he's created maximum negotiating leverage for Ambassador [Jamieson] Greer, Secretary Lutnick and myself by saying if you can't get to a deal, he's happy to go back to the April 2 levels, so we have countries approaching us with very good deals,' Bessent said. The Trump administration has threatened to slap tariffs as high as 50 percent on dozens of trading partners if they don't strike deals by July 8, with those that do ink agreements still subject to a baseline rate of 10 percent. Miran said Thursday some countries could 'convince the president to lower tariffs below 10 percent' with 'aggressive concessions.' U.S. stocks hit record highs Thursday after Trump said the U.S. had reached an agreement with China. Commerce Secretary Lutnick said in a Thursday interview with Bloomberg Radio that the administration is finalizing deals with 10 key trading partners.
Bangkok Post
3 hours ago
- Business
- Bangkok Post
Trump says July 9 trade deal date is not fixed date
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said his July 9 trade deadline was not a fixed date, telling reporters at the White House that it could be sooner or later than that date, when wider US tariffs are set to be re-imposed if deals are not reached. "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%," he told reporters at the White House. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier said trade deals could be done by Labor Day.
Mint
3 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
US stock market ends higher; S&P 500, Nasdaq hit record close on trade deal, US Fed rate cut hopes
US stock market ended higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq recording their all-time closing highs, lifted by hopes of a US-China trade deal and US Federal Reserve interest rate cuts after soft economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 432.43 points, or 1.00%, to 43,819.27, while the S&P 500 rose 32.05 points, or 0.52%, to 6,173.07. The Nasdaq Composite closed 105.55 points, or 0.52%, higher at 20,273.46. All three major US stock indexes posted weekly gains. Among the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500, consumer discretionary was the top gainer, while energy shares were the laggards. Upon reaching its record closing high, the tech-heavy Nasdaq confirmed it entered a bull market when it touched its post 'liberation day' trough on April 8, Reuters reported. The blue-chip Dow remained 2.7% below its record closing high reached on December 4. US stock market gained as investors risk-appetite improved after Washington and Beijing reached an agreement to expedite rare-earth shipments from China to the US, a White House official said, well ahead of the July 9 expiration of the 90-day postponement of US President Donald Trump's 'reciprocal' tariffs, Reuters reported. Additionally, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration's trade deals with 18 of the main US trading partners could be done by the September 1 Labor Day holiday. On the NYSE, there were 347 new highs and 55 new lows. On the Nasdaq, 2,111 stocks rose and 2,342 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.11-to-1 ratio. Nvidia share price gained 1.8%, edging closer to $4 trillion market capitalization, while Amazon shares rallied 2.85%. Micron Technology shears eased 0.98%, while Tesla stock price dropped 1.43%. Nike shares jumped 15.2% after forecasting a smaller-than-expected drop in first-quarter revenue. US consumer spending unexpectedly fell in May. Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity, dropped 0.1% last month after an unrevised 0.2% gain in April. That was the second decline in consumer spending this year. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast consumer spending would edge up 0.1%. A separate report from the University of Michigan confirmed consumer sentiment has improved this month, but remains well below December's post-election bounce. Financial markets have priced in a 76% likelihood that the Fed will implement its first rate cut of the year in September, with a smaller, 19% probability of a rate cut coming as soon as July, according to CME's FedWatch tool. (With inputs from Reuters) Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
Japan Times
4 hours ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Tariff deals could be wrapped up by Sept. 1, Bessent says as talks pick up
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday the Trump administration's various trade deals with other countries could be done by the Sept. 1 Labor Day holiday, citing talks with 18 main U.S. trading partners and new revisions to a deal with China aimed at expediting rare earths shipments. After a week where tariffs took a back seat to the U.S. strike on Iran's nuclear facilities and the massive tax and spending bill in Congress, the Trump administration's trade negotiations have picked up. The United States sent a new proposal to the European Union on Thursday and India sent a delegation to Washington 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 President Donald 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%" tariffs. Bessent said the United States and China had resolved issues surrounding shipments of Chinese rare earth minerals and magnets to the U.S., further modifying a deal reached in May in Geneva. As part of its retaliation against new U.S. tariffs, China suspended exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets, upending supply chains central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world. During U.S.-China talks in May in Geneva, Beijing committed to removing the measures imposed since April 2, but those critical materials were not moving as fast as agreed, Bessent said, so the U.S. put countermeasures in place. "I am confident now that we — as agreed, the magnets will flow," Bessent said, adding that these materials would go to U.S. firms that had received them previously on a regular basis. He did not disclose details of the latest agreement, which Trump administration officials said was reached earlier this week. Efforts to resolve the dispute included a phone call between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping that led to teams from both sides meeting again in London, as negotiators try to end a trade war between the world's biggest economies. China's Commerce Ministry said 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. China has dual-use restrictions in place on rare earths which it takes "very seriously" and has been vetting buyers to ensure that materials are not diverted for U.S. military uses, according to an industry source. This has slowed down the licensing process. The Geneva deal faltered over China's curbs on critical minerals exports, prompting the Trump administration to respond with export controls of its own preventing shipments of semiconductor design software, ethane, engines for Chinese-made aircraft and other goods to China. The U.S.-China negotiations have yet to delve into the Trump administration's core complaints about China's state-led, export-driven economic model with just over six weeks to go before the Geneva tariff truce expires on Aug. 10. News of the latest revision to the China deal comes as Trump has a meeting scheduled Friday with the foreign ministers of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, two African nations that are rich in critical minerals. Indian government sources said that a trade delegation from New Delhi was back in Washington on Friday aiming to sew up a limited U.S. trade deal ahead of the July 9 deadline. Trump administration officials frequently count India among countries with which trade talks are at an advanced stage, along with Japan. But early optimism about a simple deal to reduce India's high tariffs has hit roadblocks over disagreements on U.S. import duties for auto parts steel and farm goods, Indian officials with direct knowledge said. The U.S. Trade Representative's office did not immediately respond to queries on talks with India or the European Union. Trump said that his administration was looking to get a "full trade barrier dropping" deal with India. "I'm not sure that that's going to happen, but as of this moment, we've agreed to that — go into India and trade," Trump said. The latest negotiating activity comes amid signs on Friday that uncertainty over Trump's tariffs is starting to take a toll on the economy. U.S. consumer spending unexpectedly fell in May as the boost from the pre-emptive buying of goods like motor vehicles ahead of Trump's tariffs faded, while monthly inflation maintained a moderate pace of increase. But Wall Street investors took the consumer spending data as another sign that the Federal Reserve may resume rate cuts in July, sending stock indexes back to record highs. Bessent's more optimistic tone on trade also helped shares, and an influential Wall Street economist who had been a skeptic of Trump's tariffs appeared to reverse course. Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, asked in a blog: "Has Trump outsmarted everyone on tariffs?" Slok said that extending the deadline by a year would give countries and U.S. domestic businesses time to adjust to the new world with permanently higher tariffs while reducing uncertainty, which would help markets.
NHK
4 hours ago
- Business
- NHK
US signals extension of tariff deal deadline
US President Donald Trump's top official for trade negotiations has hinted at an extension of the deadline to work out deals. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he hopes they can ink the agreements by September 1. Bessent told Fox Business on Friday that a lot of the countries are "feeling pressure" to get a deal done, as the 90-day pause on what Trump calls "reciprocal tariffs" ends on July 9. Bessent said the US has "18 important trading partners," and is seeking to wrap up deals with 10 or 12 of them. He added that they hope to make an agreement with another 20 by Labor Day, which is September 1. Trump told reporters on Friday the July deadline remains flexible. He said: "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 percent." He later announced on social media that his administration has terminated "all discussions" with Canada over its plans to tax US technology firms. He said new tariffs will be imposed soon. Japanese negotiators are still working to cement a deal. Economic Revitalization Minister Akazawa Ryosei is in Washington for a seventh round of talks with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. They agreed to continue to work hard towards an agreement.
