The world eagerly awaits July 9, when Donald Trump’s 90-day tariff truce expires. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reminded countries that have not yet done so to contact the president to reach an agreement. Otherwise, starting August 1, they will be subject to the “reciprocal” tariffs introduced on April 2.
“President Trump’s going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners,” Bessent said on CNN’s State of the Union, “saying that if you don’t move things along, then on August 1st, you will boomerang back to your April 2nd tariff level,” adding that he expects to see results “very quickly.”
The treasury secretary said he was very positive about the coming days. “We’re going to be very busy in the next 72 hours.” Bessent stated the start of negotiations with the European Union was rather slow, but now they are moving forward and there had been progress, though he did not elaborate further. Politico reports that the EU could agree to significant concessions for the sake of getting a deal through.
On Monday morning in Brussels, the Committee of Permanent Representatives, which includes the ambassadors of the 27 member states, will meet to reach a coordinated response. The goal is to limit the damage as much as possible and hope for a 10% tariff, as agreed between the United States and the United Kingdom. For now, only one other country has found common ground with the White House: Vietnam, which has managed to lower its export tariffs from 46% to 20%.
Meanwhile, talks with Japan are also continuing. The Tokyo delegation has reportedly already had two phone calls with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, though nothing concrete has been agreed to yet.
In a joint statement at the conclusion of the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, member countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia—expressed “grave concern” about the current market. “The indiscriminate increase in tariffs,” the document reads, “threatens all global trade.” The statement then warns against protectionist policies and unilateral trade measures, without naming the Trump administration specifically.
On CNN, Bessent denied that August 1 will turn out to be a repeat of their self-styled “Liberation Day” measures from April 2, when reciprocal tariffs were postponed within a week of their implementatioen and a deadline was set a few months away. Nonetheless, the same strong-arm tactics appear to be at work. “We are saying, “This is when it’s happening,” the treasury secretary said. “If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to back to the old rate, that’s your choice.’”
