U.S. may impose regional tariffs as trade deadlines loom, Bessent says
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The U.S. may impose some tariffs by region rather than on individual countries, as time runs out to negotiate a laundry list of trade deals globally, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday.
Why it matters: The administration is quickly curtailing its 90-deals-in-90-days ambition, acknowledging the practical realities of trying to negotiate complex trade agreements with dozens of countries simultaneously.
Catch up quick: Earlier this week, President Trump told Middle Eastern business leaders that Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick would start to unilaterally advise some countries of their tariff rates in the next two to three weeks.
- "But it's not possible to meet the number of people that want to see us," Trump said.
What they're saying: Bessent, in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday, said the U.S. was focused primarily on making deals with a short list of key partners.
- "My other sense is that we will do a lot of regional deals — this is the rate for Central America, this is the rate for this part of Africa — but what we are focused on for right now is the 18 important trading relationships," Bessent said.
Flashback: On April 2, Trump unveiled a sweeping 10% global baseline tariff, plus higher reciprocal tariffs on dozens of other countries.
- On April 9, he set a 90-day pause for those higher tariffs, while leaving the baseline in place.
- So far during that pause, the U.S. has announced a trade deal with the U.K. and a temporary agreement with China to lower tariffs.
Between the lines: Bessent told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that countries that don't negotiate with the U.S. in good faith will see their tariffs go back to whatever Trump announced last month.
- "And the negotiating leverage that President Trump is talking about here is if you don't want to negotiate, then it will spring back to the April 2nd level," Bessent said.
The bottom line: Almost halfway into the president's tariff pause, the administration is taking a more pragmatic view of trade talks, potentially reducing uncertainty for markets about what comes next.
