Trump sees trade deals coming in three to four weeks

[WASHINGTON] President Donald Trump said he expected to wrap up trade deals with US partners looking for lower tariffs soon. 

“I would say, over the next three to four weeks, and we’re finished, by the way,” Trump said of the deals in an interview with Time magazine published on Friday (Apr 25). 

“I’ll be finished. Now, some countries may come back and ask for an adjustment, and I’ll consider that,” he added.

In a wide-ranging interview, Trump defended his trade policies which have unnerved financial markets and sent foreign governments racing to Washington to cut deals.

But the president gave conflicting signals about the status of talks with China, even as Beijing has denied that negotiations between the world’s two largest economies are taking place.

Trump said, “We’re meeting with China. We’re doing fine with everybody.”  But also said he would not call President Xi Jinping if his Chinese counterpart does not call him first. Then Trump said such a call had occurred, without giving details. 

“He’s called. And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf,” Trump said.

Trump earlier this month announced sharp tariff increases on about 60 countries but then quickly paused those measures for three months to allow trading partners to negotiate deals, keeping in place a baseline 10 per cent rate during the negotiating period. That set off a flurry of visits from foreign delegations eager to strike a deal, but Xi’s government has taken a more defiant stance.

Trump in the interview also pushed back on reports that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick convinced him to delay his reciprocal tariffs and said he “wasn’t worried” about the turmoil in bond and equity markets that greeted his higher duties.

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