Global trade rules are about as hazy now as in early April, when the White House touted "90 deals in 90 days" that would ease the uncertainty.

Why it matters: Since the April 9 trade war de-escalation, businesses have been waiting for clarity on where tariffs will settle so they can adapt their supply chains and pricing accordingly.

• It now appears as if the July 9 deadline for those deals will pass with little certainty.
• For business leaders, the fear is that the trade wars started when Donald Trump took office don't have a firm end date, a worry that grows with each shifting deadline.

What they're saying: "Whatever deals there are going to be, let's just ink it and move on," says Sue Spence, the chair of the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing business survey committee.

• "But even if that happens, there is such a disbelief it will stick," says Spence, who surveys manufacturers each month to gauge the industry's health.

What's new: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC early Monday that trade announcements were coming in the next 48 hours.

• Bessent said "we've had a lot of people change their tune in terms of negotiations" since Trump threatened that countries could revert back to the tariffs outlined on Liberation Day.
• "My mailbox was full last night with a lot of new offers, a lot of new proposals," he said.

Yes, but: Bessent also pointed to August 1 as the next date to watch, when countries that have not landed deals will see tariff rates revert back to those announced in early April.

• Trump posted on Truth Social last night that "UNITED STATES TARIFF letters and/or Deals with various Countries from around the World" will be delivered starting at noon Monday.

What to watch: Today sets off the latest murky timeline that business leaders will struggle to understand.

• The list of dates already includes July 21, when the U.S. and Canada are supposed to notch a deal. There is also Aug. 12, when the 90-day trade truce with China expires.
• The Trump administration has announced trade frameworks with the U.K. and Vietnam, though agreements with other major trading partners — Japan and Mexico, for instance — look uncertain.
• The European Commission's Ursula von der Leyen "had a good exchange" with Trump last night, the bloc said. It is a hint that talks might be moving in the right direction ahead of Wednesday, when tariffs on European goods are threatened to jump to 50%.

The prospect of substantially higher import taxes remains, even if there are a wave of tariff deals announced in the days ahead.

• The Commerce Department is considering the potential for tariffs on individual sectors — including chips, pharmaceuticals and more — under its trade authorities, Section 232 and Section 301.
• Trump last night threatened to impose additional tariffs on the "BRICS" (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), ahead of their annual gathering in South America.

The big picture: "Historically, fully fledged trade deals take, on average, three years to conclude, not three months," Morgan Stanley economists wrote in a note this morning.

• "Our best guess is that any near-term announcements will not be comprehensive and permanent, and will likely be some kind of blanket agreement," they add.
• "Even if we get a range of agreements on July 8/9, because of all the uncertainty noted above, the next question will obviously be, for how long is this agreement valid?"

The intrigue: Businesses are yearning for some clarity — a sense that whatever the new tariff regime may look like, it will remain relatively stable.

• Asked what certainty in this new era might look like, ISM's Spence says: "Enough time needs to go by with no other changes."
• "If I'm the CFO of a company, and there is a deal in place with China and Europe, and three months go by and there hasn't been a big change, relations seem good with no new threats — then maybe I am going to be comfortable enough to move forward with decisions I have delayed," Spence says.