President Donald Trump on Friday said the U.S. would begin unilaterally informing many of its trading partners of new tariff rates, acknowledging for the first time that his administration will be unable to negotiate deals to lower tariffs with more than 50 trading partners by a self-imposed early July deadline.
After his sweeping April tariff plan sent markets spiraling and set in motion a global trade war, Trump reversed course and issued a 90-day pause on the new duties for every affected country except China, opening the door for individual countries to negotiate deals with his trade team.
But in remarks at a business roundtable in the United Arab Emirates, the final stop on a multi-day Middle East trip, Trump said that while “150 countries” were seeking to make deals with the U.S., it was “not possible to meet the number of people that want to see us.”
Instead, Trump said U.S. trading partners should expect individual letters from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick “at a certain point over the next two to three weeks,” in which they would be “telling people what they will be paying to do business in the United States.”
The president did not specify which countries would receive letters telling them what they would pay and which countries would still have the opportunity to negotiate. Trump slapped roughly 60 trading partners with so-called reciprocal tariffs of up to 50 percent in April, while imposing a baseline 10 percent tariff on all foreign imports.
“President Trump is focused on reducing our historic trade deficit and leveling the playing field for American industries and workers,” said White House spokesman Kush Desai, who declined to share details about the new tariff plan. “Quick action on the President’s agenda is critical to restore American Greatness.”
One person familiar with the negotiations, granted anonymity to share private conversations, said there were simply “too many nations to negotiate with all at once.” The person indicated that the administration plans to impose a specific tariff level after July while other deals will be negotiated “in due course.”
The comment is the first time the president has publicly acknowledged that his goal of reaching trade agreements with dozens of countries over a three-month timeline was too ambitious. Even as the administration developed a strategy of focusing on about a dozen of the country’s top trading partners, Trump continued to insist that there would be quick deals.
“We have four or five other deals coming immediately,” Trump promised last week. “We have many deals coming down the line, and ultimately we’re just signing the rest of them in.”
However, progress with important trading partners in Asia has begun to falter. While the administration indicated it was making significant progress with South Korea and Japan — two strategically important partners in countering China — negotiations with both countries have slowed.
Trump also touted a “fantastic trade deal” his administration reached with the United Kingdom earlier this month — the first of its kind since the launch of the administration’s aggressive tariff policy in April, which the president promised would usher in a string of agreements with U.S. trading partners. The U.K., however, did not face the higher reciprocal tariff, only the 10 percent baseline tariff as well as other sector-specific tariffs on autos, steel and aluminum.
But that agreement laid bare to other countries that the Trump administration intends to maintain a 10 percent baseline tariff — even on countries where it has a trade surplus. That has made major trading partners, like the European Union, more skeptical about what they may be able to get out of a trade deal with the U.S.
Trump also noted on Friday the progress his team has made in reaching a trade deal with China, which he said is “in the process of continuing to be formed,” adding that “they wanted to make that deal very badly.”
Trade tensions between the U.S. and China cooled earlier this week when the two major economies agreed to slash their triple-digit tariffs on one another, which had steadily escalated as the countries ramped up a major trade war after Trump slammed China with high tariffs in April. The truce is only temporary, however — Trump set a 90-day deadline to reach a broader trade agreement with Beijing, meaning the sky-high tariffs could snap back in August.
Megan Messerly contributed to this report.
