Latest news with #tradeDeals
South China Morning Post
11 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
US Treasury chief says key trade deals may come by September
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday that Washington could reach key tariff deals with over a dozen partners in the coming months and have its trade agenda wrapped up by early September. His comments to Fox Business come ahead of a July 9 deadline for steeper US duties to kick in on dozens of economies. Countries have been rushing to negotiate and reach trade pacts with Washington to avoid this outcome, although the White House recently suggested that President Donald Trump's administration could extend this deadline. On Friday, Bessent noted that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has expressed expectations for 10 deals with trading partners. The Treasury chief reiterated that there are 18 key partners the United States is focusing on agreements with. '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 Labour Day,' Bessent said. That holiday falls on September 1.
CNA
12 hours ago
- Business
- CNA
US Treasury chief says key trade deals may come by September
WASHINGTON: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday (Jun 27) that Washington could reach key tariff deals with over a dozen partners in the coming months and have its trade agenda wrapped up by early September. His comments to Fox Business come ahead of a Jul 9 deadline for steeper US duties to kick in on dozens of economies. Countries have been rushing to negotiate and reach trade pacts with Washington to avoid this outcome, although the White House recently suggested that President Donald Trump's administration could extend this deadline. On Friday, Bessent noted that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has expressed expectations for 10 deals with trading partners. The Treasury chief reiterated that there are 18 key partners the United States is focusing on agreements with. "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 Labour Day," Bessent said. That holiday falls on Sep 1. A day prior, Lutnick told Bloomberg Television when asked about the July deadline: "We're going to do top 10 deals, put them in the right category, and then these other countries will fit behind." White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also told reporters Thursday that the deadline "could be extended, but that's a decision for the president to make". She said the date itself is "not critical". In April, Trump imposed a sweeping 10 per cent tariff on most trading partners and unveiled higher rates on dozens of economies before pausing them while negotiations took place. This halt is due to expire Jul 9.
The Guardian
19 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
US ‘close to 10 trade deals' after China rare earth agreement reached
Update: Date: 2025-06-27T06:38:15.000Z Title: Introduction: US 'close to 10 trade deals' after China agreement 'signed' Content: Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. Hopes are building that the US may be close to announcing more trade deals, and avoid imposing punishing new tariffs that would disrupt the global economy. Overnight, Donald Trump announced that the two sides had signed a deal, without providing details, declaring: 'We just signed with China yesterday.' It later emerged that the agreement will expedite rare earth shipments to the US, building on the progress negotiators made in Switzerland last month. A White House official explained: 'The administration and China agreed to an additional understanding for a framework to implement the Geneva agreement……how we can implement expediting rare earths shipments to the US again.' The US, and its trading partners, have less than two weeks until Trump's 90-day trade war pause expires. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has claimed that progress is being made, and hinted that the White House has imminent plans to reach agreements with 10 major trading partners. Lutnick told Bloomberg Television: 'We're going to do top 10 deals, put them in the right category, and then these other countries will fit behind.' Trump has previously indicated he could send letters to countries announcing their new tariff rates, if deals aren't agreed in time. Lutnick has indicated that countries will be sorted into 'proper buckets' on 9 July, although there might be flexibility for further negotiations…. He says: 'Those who have deals will have deals, and everybody else that is negotiating with us, they'll get a response from us and then they'll go into that package. If people want to come back and negotiate further, they're entitled to, but that tariff rate will be set and off we'll go.' 10am BST: EU consumer and business confidence stats 1.30pm BST: US PCE inflation report for May 3pm BST: University of Michigan's US consumer confidence index
Bloomberg
3 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Trade Deals Could Eliminate Need for ‘Revenge Tax', Hassett Says
Donald Trump's top economic adviser on Wednesday said the administration is pushing US trading partners to move swiftly on deals that make the 'revenge tax' included in the president's cornerstone legislation unnecessary. Congress could remove the provision, called Section 899, from the tax bill this week if countries 'issue policy pronouncements today or tomorrow,' White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said on Fox Business.
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
International law makes life better for everyone, insists Lord Hermer
Abiding by international law makes life better for everyone in Britain, Lord Hermer has said. The Attorney General said Labour's commitment to international law went to the 'absolute' heart of what the Government was trying to achieve, 'which is to make life better for people in this country'. Lord Hermer argued that, without the UK's commitment to stick by international rules, it would not be able to negotiate trade and migration deals as it had with the US, India, France, Germany and Iraq. He said no one would make agreements with people 'they don't trust' because they broke their word. His comments to the BBC came before the disclosure of his legal advice that the UK should not join direct strikes by Israel against Iran, as it might breach international law. Sir Keir Starmer and David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, have refused to comment on the legality of the strikes on Iran either by the US at the weekend or by Israel. Lord Hermer said Sir Keir had avoided a 'Love Actually' approach towards his relationship with Donald Trump, where he could have sought to oppose to secure 'short-term' political gain. Instead, he had sought to ensure the UK's relationship with the US remained warm. In the 2003 film Love Actually, a fictional prime minister, played by Hugh Grant, contradicts a US president during a press conference to the delight of his advisers, political supporters and the public. The approach to the law taken by Lord Hermer, a long-standing legal friend of the Prime Minister, has been a persistent controversy during Sir Keir's premiership. Last month, he was forced to apologise after comparing politicians who wanted to leave the European Convention on Human Rights to the rise of Nazi Germany. Asked whether international law was a 'red line' for Sir Keir in foreign policy, Lord Hermer replied: 'If you ask me what's Keir's kind of principal overriding interest, it is genuinely to make life better for the people of this country. 'Is international law important to this Government and to this Prime Minister? Of course it is. It's important in and of itself, but it's also important because it goes absolutely to the heart of what we're trying to achieve, which is to make life better for people in this country.' 'Government is completely united' He added that he was 'absolutely convinced' that 'the Government is completely united on this', adding: 'Actually, by ensuring that we are complying with all forms of law – domestic law and international law – we serve the national interest.' Lord Hermer said the UK could only enter trade deals with the US, India and the EU 'because we're back on the world stage as a country whose word is their bond'. He told the BBC: 'No one wants to do deals with people they don't trust. No one wants to sign international agreements with a country that's got a government that's saying, well, 'we may comply with it, we may not'. 'We do. We succeed. We secure those trade deals, which are essential for making people's lives better in this country. 'We secure deals on migration with France, with Germany, with Iraq, that are going to deal with some of the other fundamental problems that we face, and we can do that because we comply, and we're seen to comply and indeed lead on international law issues. 'Being a good faith player in international law is overwhelmingly in the national interests of this country.' Speaking about the UK's relationship with the US, Lord Hermer said it was 'absolutely vital' despite 'various different pressures'. 'I think the approach that Keir has taken, which is never to give in to that kind of Love Actually instinct for short-term political gain, but rather to ensure that our relationship with the United States remains warm, that channels of communication are always open, that there is mutual respect between us. 'I think that is overwhelmingly in this country's interests.'
