Politics
Bessent Provides Major Update On Trade Talks, Gives Timetable For Deals
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed Tuesday that the United States is engaged in active discussions with 17 of its largest trading partners and provided a timetable on when the first major trade deals can be expected.
While testifying before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, the treasury secretary said that the timing of trade deals “will be path dependent on our trade partners.”
“There are 18 very important trading relationships. We are currently negotiating with 17 of those trading partners. China – we have not engaged in negotiations with as of yet,” he said. “Approximately 97% or 98% of our trade deficit is with 15 countries, 18% of the countries are major trading partners, and I would be surprised if we don’t have more than 80% or 90% of those wrapped up by the end of the year,” the treasury secretary added.
He went on to predict that a number of significant trade deals could come much sooner, stating that agreements with major partners could be announced “perhaps as early as this week.”
Bessent went on to say that the tariffs imposed by President Trump have drawn attention to the tariff and non-tariff barriers placed on the U.S. by trading partners.
“They have come to us with very good offers, and what I will tell you is that, in negotiating with some of them, they may not like the tariff wall that President Trump has put up. But they have them, so if tariffs are so bad, why do they like them? And then more insidious, we can see that from a practical matter and from academic research, are the non-tariff barriers,” Bessent told lawmakers.
“I expect that we can see a substantial reduction in the tariffs that we are being charged, as well as non-tariff barriers, currency manipulation and the subsidies of both labor and capital investment. So that is proceeding very well,” he added.
Bessent had previously told reporters this past Sunday that new deals could be announced as early as this week, though he did not provide additional details.
Last month, Bessent and other senior Trump Administration officials engaged in extensive talks with South Korea and Japan, in addition to other major trading partners such as Australia and the U.K.
According to a report from Reuters ahead of the talks, South Korea is seeking to increase cooperation with the United States on shipbuilding and energy. The South Korean government is also open to increased shared defense costs as the nation seeks to have the looming 25 percent reciprocal tariffs lowered.
Acting South Korean President Han Duck-soo discussed shipbuilding, energy purchases, an Alaskan gas project and increased defense cost-sharing during an April 8 phone call with President Trump. ”The government will do its best to find a ‘win-win’ between the two countries, with focus on three areas of trade balance, shipbuilding and LNG, under the principle that the national interest is the foremost priority,” Han said ahead of last month’s talks.
Japan’s Economic Revitalization Minister Ryōsei Akazawa also recently traveled to Washington D.C. in order to meet with Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer before later sitting for an unscheduled meeting with President Trump himself. “A Great Honor to have just met with the Japanese Delegation on Trade. Big Progress!” Trump said of the meeting. While the Japanese delegation left without a deal in-hand, both sides remain optimistic that a deal is imminent and described the discussions favorably.
