US Treasury Secretary Bessent spoke with CNN on Sunday.
He was forthright with his threat to foreign countries that Trump's tariff will jump back a “reciprocal” level if trade deals are not reached with the US:
- "Trump has put them on notice that if you do not negotiate in good faith, you will ratchet back up to your April 2 level”
- Bessent touted that there are incoming deals with 18 "important" trading partners but didn't indicate a timeline for these
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You'll recall Trump's tariffs were greeted with shock, with rates up to 30%, 40%, 50%, depending on country
- were scheduled to take effect on April 9
- after markets collapsed Trump was forced into a backdown, pausing tariffs for 90 days to allow negotiations
more to come
