The next 11 weeks will be a key test for a president who advertises himself as the top deal manufacturer, as his advisory contest completes what other governments have done before and has struck dozens of personal trade deals with other governments.
President Trump has promised huge gains for U.S. trade, and officials in Japan, South Korea, India and elsewhere have been working to reach a deal as they hope to prevent penalties. But trade experts say that the government has set up a seemingly impossible task given that traditional trade agreements usually take months or years of negotiations.
Mr. Trump tried to use tariffs as leverage for Notch’s quick deal, and his trade adviser Peter Navarro promised “90 deals in 90 days.” But taxation is causing chaos and economic pain for many businesses, and they are not bringing some of the largest U.S. trading partners, including China, to the table.
Some U.S.-China trade has come to a halt after these countries impose triple-digit tariffs on each other’s products, and a wave of bankruptcy, especially among small businesses relying on Chinese imports, seems to be imminent.
Two people familiar with the discussion said some Trump officials recognize that the situation with China is unsustainable and have been working on how to reduce tariffs between the two countries. Another familiar with the discussion said government officials were concerned about the blow to the stock market, which experienced intense volatility and the worst trading days in years. The S&P 500 has fallen 10% since Trump took office on January 20.
Speaking at the Oval Office on Wednesday, Mr. Trump said he wanted to reach a deal with China. But he said his tariffs on China would be “depend on them.” He denied any concerns about what the tariffs do for small businesses, but said the high tariffs “basically mean that China is not doing any business with us.”
He also claimed that the United States has spoken with 90 countries, all of which want to make a deal. “Too much to deal with, but we’re fair to them,” he said.
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump said his 145% tariff on Chinese imports could drop. “It won’t get close to that high,” he said. “It will drop significantly. But it won’t be zero.”
So far, officials from the United States and China seem to have not had substantial negotiations on the trade dispute. Trump officials believe that given the reliance on U.S. exports, it is vulnerable.
“President Trump is very clear: China needs to reach an agreement with the United States of America,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said.
Finance Minister Scott Bessent dismissed speculation on Wednesday that the president is considering unilaterally reducing the tariffs he imposed on China ahead of any negotiations with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. He stressed that any move to downgrade trade tensions needs to be mutual.
“I don’t think the current tariff levels are considered sustainable,” Mr. Bessent told reporters. “This is equivalent to an embargo, and the trade disruption between the two countries is not suitable for anyone’s interest.”
On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun reiterated that the U.S. tariff threat will not bully China.
“If the United States does want to resolve the issue through dialogue and negotiation, it will stop threats and coercion and engage in dialogue with China based on equality, respect and mutual interests,” he said. “Talking about continual pressure on China while reaching an agreement with China is not the right way to deal with China and will not work.”
Mr. Trump’s tariff threat has created a sense of urgency for other governments, motivating them to start talking to the United States about eliminating tariffs and other trade barriers. On April 9, he paused for 90 days after the president imposed serious tariffs on nearly 60 countries, saying he would give the government a chance to negotiate a trade deal.
This week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Trump administration received 18 suggestions on paper, and the trade team “meeted 34 countries this week alone.”
“A lot of progress has been made,” she said. “We are moving at Trump’s pace to ensure these deals are reached on behalf of American workers and American people.”
When asked if the tariffs are really valid, she replied: “Have some patience, you’ll see.”
But negotiating so many deals simultaneously presents major challenges. Many of Mr. Trump’s departments remain understaffed and middle-level officials have not confirmed it yet. Torsten Slok, chief economist at investment firm Apollo Global Management, wrote online that the trade deal signed by the United States took an average of 18 months to be negotiated and implemented for 45 months.
“While the market is waiting for trade negotiations with 90 countries at the same time,” he wrote, “global trade is stagnant, similar to the problems we have seen during Covid: supply chains are increasing supply chain challenges in weeks, potential shortages in U.S. stores, higher inflation in U.S. and lower tourism in U.S.”
Another obstacle for people familiar with the negotiations is that foreign governments say they don’t know what the Trump administration wants. Given Mr. Trump’s unpredictable demands, they are not sure whether his representatives have the right to reach an agreement with them.
Former trade official Greta Peisch, now a partner at law firm Wiley Rein, said the tight schedule raises questions about whether any deals will be reached in the coming months. “Temporary or ambitious” rather than actual trade agreements. She also said that economic benefits may be restricted.
“When you look at some of these trade relations, simply removing trade barriers may not move the needle too much in terms of changing trade flows in the short term,” she said.
South Korea’s finance and trade minister will meet with U.S. Trade Representative’s Bessent and Jamieson Greer on Thursday. Officials from Thailand, Japan, India and other countries are also scheduled to hold talks in Washington this week.
During a visit to New Delhi on Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance announced an overview of a potential trade agreement with India that would strengthen trade between countries, reduce U.S. export barriers to India and discuss in discussions on defense, energy and strategic technologies.
Although the Trump administration said it could be reached quickly, the initial meeting showed that the conversation could be more complicated, especially among major trading partners like Japan.
The two countries have trade disputes that have extended for decades, involving industries such as steel and auto parts. Some of the agreements under discussion (for example, a project that could enable Japan, South Korea and Taiwan to invest in pipelines that export LNG from Alaska may take at least five years to achieve.
“Tokyo wants to maintain the alliance and keep peace with Trump, but does not surrender to Japan’s interests,” Daniel Russel, vice president of the Asian Institute of Social Policy, wrote in a recent analysis. “The Japanese government is willing to increase investment in the United States and buy more American goods, but will refuse to be driven into biased deals.”
South Korean officials also appear to be willing to discuss trade imbalances, as well as buying more natural gas and investing to revitalize the U.S. shipbuilding industry. However, it is not clear that the South Korean government can actively negotiate a deal because the country’s president has been impeached and the election will not be held until June 3.
British principal Rachel Reeves said in a speech in Washington on Wednesday that there is no plan to rush to reach a trade deal with the United States.
Ms. Reeves intends to meet with Mr Best, who said she wants to reduce trade barriers between the UK and other countries, but her government will not cross a solid line, such as changing food or car safety standards.
With larger trading partners, such as the EU, discussions seem more difficult. European officials are frustrated by the Trump administration’s lack of clear goals.
“People want to be clearer in expectations,” Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commissioner for the economy, said Wednesday at the Semafor World Economic Summit. European officials have made “specific proposals” such as buying more liquefied natural gas and zero-tax tariffs, but the United States needs to be clearer about what it wants.
“We are trying to find solutions and a way forward,” he said. “But we also point out that we are also ready to defend our company without solutions.”
EU officials have developed a list of U.S. products that they can raise tariffs in retaliation and are working to diversify their trade relations.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told German newspapers last week that she had “constant talks with heads of states and governments who hope to work with us in the new order”, including Iceland, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, the United Arab Emirates, India, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, the Philippines, Thailand, Thailand, Phylland and Mexico and Mexico.
“What we know about the West no longer exists,” she said.
Cui Sang,,,,, Eshe Nelson and Alan Rappeport Contribution report. Siyi Zhao Contributed to the research.
