‘We have made a few deals today that are excellent deals for the country’: Trump is coy as tariff scramble ensues

Economy·Tariffs and trade‘We have made a few deals today that are excellent deals for the country’: Trump is coy as tariff scramble ensuesBy Josh BoakBy The Associated PressBy Josh BoakBy The Associated Press The Trump talks are happening.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP, File)With President Donald Trump’s dramatic tariff hikes on the cusp of starting, countries around the world scrambled on Thursday to finalize their trade frameworks with the United States, figure out the tax rates their goods might face and prepare for the unknown

Shortly before Friday deadline for the tariffs beginning, Trump said he would enter into a 90-day negotiating period with Mexico, one of the nation’s largest trading partners, with the current 25% tariff rates staying in place, down from the 30% he had threatened earlier. “We avoided the tariff increase announced for tomorrow and we got 90 days to build a long-term agreement through dialogue,” Mexican leader Claudia Sheinbaum wrote on X after a call with Trump that he referred to as “very successful” in terms of the leaders getting to know each other better

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at Thursday’s news briefing that Trump “at some point this afternoon or later this evening” would sign an order to impose new rates starting at 12:01 a.m

Countries that had not received a prior letter from Trump or negotiated a framework would be notified of their ly tariff rates, either by letter or executive order, she said

The unknowns created a sense of drama that have defined Trump’s rollout of tariffs over several months, with the one consistency being his desire to levy the import taxes that most economists say will ultimately be borne to some degree by U.S. consumers and es. “We have made a few deals today that are excellent deals for the country,” Trump told reporters on Thursday afternoon without detailing the terms of those agreements or nations involved

Trump said that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had called ahead of 35% tariffs being imposed on many of his nation’s goods, but “we haven’t spoken to Canada today.” Trump imposed the Friday deadline after his previous “Liberation Day” tariffs in April resulted in a stock market panic

His unusually high tariff rates unveiled in April led to recession fears, mpting Trump to impose a 90-day negotiating period

When he was unable to create enough trade deals with other countries, he ext the timeline and sent out letters to world leaders that simply listed rates, mpting a slew of hasty deals

Trump reached a deal with South Korea on Wednesday, and earlier with the European Union, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines

His commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, said on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity” that there were agreements with Cambodia and Thailand after they had agreed to a ceasefire to their border conflict

Among those uncertain their trade were wealthy Switzerland and Norway

Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg said it was “completely uncertain” whether a deal would be before Trump’s deadline

But even the public announcement of a deal can offer scant reassurance for an American trading partner

EU officials are waiting to complete a crucial document outlining how the framework to tax imported autos and other goods from the 27-member state bloc would operate

Trump had announced a deal Sunday while he was in Scotland. “The U.S. has made these commitments

Now it’s up to the U.S. to implement them

The ball is in their court,” EU Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said

The document would not be legally binding

Trump said as part of the agreement with Mexico that goods imported into the U.S. would continue to face a 25% tariff that he has ostensibly linked to fentanyl trafficking

He said autos would face a 25% tariff, while copper, aluminum and steel would be taxed at 50% during the negotiating period

He said Mexico would end its “Non Tariff Trade Barriers,” but he didn’t vide specifics

But Trump appeared to have soured on that deal, which is up for renegotiation next year

One of his first significant moves as president was to tariff goods from both Mexico and Canada earlier this year

That means the U.S. bought more goods from Mexico than it sold to the country

Besides addressing fentanyl trafficking, Trump has made it a goal to close the trade gap. ___ Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report

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