WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent implored US trading partners Wednesday not to “panic” if they don’t agree to economic deals before President Trump’s Friday tariff deadline — while explaining that the US hasn’t yet signed off on a permanent agreement with China because Washington now has “a lot more leverage.”
“If there’s not a deal by Aug. 1, I would encourage market participants, corporate America, even the countries, not to panic, because you can still do a deal,” Bessent said in remarks at a forum hosted by Breitbart News at the Waldorf Astoria in the nation’s capital.
Bessent went on to predict a “busy August” with duty rates set to jump from the current 10% to as high as 50%, giving countries additional incentive to come to the negotiating table.
Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have stressed that the deadline can not be extended any more and that the rates will go up regardless of how far along negotiations are with any country.
“No extensions, no more grace periods. Aug. 1, the tariffs are set; they’ll go into place. Customs will start collecting the money, and off we go,” Lutnick said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“Obviously, after Aug. 1, people can still talk to President Trump. I mean, he’s always willing to listen, and between now and then, I think the president is going to talk to a lot of people. Whether they can make him happy is another question.”
Trump affirmed in an all-caps post on Truth Social Wednesday morning: “The August first deadline is the August first deadline — it stands strong and will not be extended.”
Bessent made his remarks after returning to Washington from a much-anticipated meeting with Chinese representatives in Stockholm on Monday and Tuesday ahead of an Aug.12 deadline for a 34% reciprocal tariff to take effect against Beijing.
The Treasury head said recent trade deals announced by the US — including with the European Union and Japan — created a “lot more leverage” and promised China will not get a “special deal,” despite being America’s third largest trading partner among individual nations.
“They were a little on their heels because we were — a week before, we had just done the Japanese trade deal, then the day before we began our talk … with the EU,” Bessent said.
“The world’s with us now,” he added.
Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer have held three rounds of talks with the Chinese in an effort to open up Beijing’s economy to US goods.
The US and China agreed to a trade truce in June, with Trump imposing a 30% tariff.
That rate, which includes a 10% baseline tariff and another 20% as punishment for the flow of fentanyl ingredients from inside the Asian power, is significantly lower than the 145% rate Trump threatened at the peak of their trade war in the spring.
But Trump appeared to be optimistic Sunday about the prospects of an agreement, telling reporters in Scotland “we’re very close to a deal with China.”
