The United States Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, stated on Friday (May 23) that the Trump administration is expected to announce “several significant” trade agreements in the coming weeks.
“I believe in the next few weeks, we will announce several important agreements,” Bessent said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. He mentioned earlier on a Fox News program that these agreements are expected to be reached before the end of the 90-day tariff reprieve announced by President Trump on April 2.
“These agreements are progressing rapidly, and as the 90-day deadline approaches, we will see more and more agreements being announced,” he said. “Many Asian countries have presented quite decent agreements.”
When asked by Bloomberg about the countries nearing agreements, Bessent did not specifically name any, but he noted that negotiations with India are in a “fairly advanced stage.”
Bessent indicated that most countries engaging in trade with the United States have shown a “full sincerity” in their negotiation attitudes, except for the European Union. Earlier in the day, Trump announced that if negotiations with the EU do not progress, a 50% tariff will be imposed on EU goods starting from June 1.
Later on Friday, Trump further emphasized during the signing of an executive order in the Oval Office, “I am not talking trade, we have made a decision – 50%.”
Bessent remarked in the Fox News interview that the president’s remarks were a response to the slow progress in negotiations with the EU and added, “I hope this can create some pressure on the EU.”
The European Commission declined to comment on Trump’s new tariff warning that day, stating that they would await a scheduled phone call between Maros Sefcovic, Vice President of the European Commission, in charge of the Energy Union, and the U.S. Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, on Friday evening.
Bessent explained that the slow progress in negotiations with the EU is due to the “difficulty of collective action” within the EU, requiring coordination among its 27 member countries to form a unified position.
According to Reuters, representatives of the 27 EU countries held a meeting in Brussels later that day to discuss their strategy towards the U.S. Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof expressed support for the EU’s stance and suggested that the latest tariff statements by Trump should be taken into consideration in negotiations.
Last month, the U.S. set a tariff rate of 20% on the EU.
Since the beginning of this year, Trump has imposed tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada, and starting in April, a 10% uniform tariff on all imported goods. Higher rates are applied to countries with larger trade deficits with the U.S., such as China. However, the “counter-tariffs” on most countries were temporarily postponed for 90 days a week later to seek a long-term agreement. Tariffs on China have also been temporarily reduced recently.
Regarding China, Bessent told Bloomberg that the U.S. expects to hold face-to-face negotiations with Chinese representatives to restart tariff talks.