On Friday afternoon, President Trump touted tariff revenue and an influx of domestic manufacturing but offered few details on the state of tariff negotiations ahead of the July 9 deadline, when the tariff pause expires.
The president acknowledged that the administration won’t be able to reach deals with 200-plus countries over the next week and a half. But he did not definitively say whether tariff rates would jump back up to “Liberation Day” levels.
“We can do whatever we want,” Trump told reporters in a press briefing, referring to the tariff pause. “We could extend it. We could make it shorter — I’d like to make it shorter. I’d like to just send letters out to everybody: ‘Congratulations, you’re paying 25%'”
So far, the Trump administration has confirmed preliminary trade agreements with China (as of today) and the UK. Trump noted that officials are in the process of negotiating other deals, which he said are “going to go very quickly.”
In particular, Trump again teased a potential deal with India, which has faced roadblocks in recent weeks over some of the country’s protectionist policies for certain sectors.
“Some of the bigger countries, India, I think we’re going to reach a deal where we have the right to go in and trade,” Trump said. “Right now, it’s restricted. … We’re looking to get a full trade barrier dropping, which is unthinkable, and I’m not sure that that’s going to happen, but as of this moment, we’ve agreed to go into Indian trade.”
