Bessent: Imposing Aug. 1 tariffs 'will put more pressure' on trade partners for deals

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that implementing precocious tariff rates connected countries starting August 1 "will enactment much unit connected those countries to travel with amended agreements."

Bessent's remarks suggest that helium views President Donald Trump's planned monolithic tariffs connected apical trading partners — which person been postponed until Aug. 1 — arsenic not truthful overmuch a deadline to ink deals, but arsenic different negotiating maneuver to compression the impacted countries to acquiesce to favorable presumption for the United States.

"We'll spot what the president wants to do," Bessent said connected CNBC erstwhile asked whether adjacent month's deadline could beryllium extended for countries that are engaging successful productive talks, an thought that has been endorsed by medication officials successful caller months.

"But again, if we someway boomerang backmost ... I would deliberation that a higher tariff level volition enactment much unit connected those countries to travel with amended agreements," said Bessent.

Investors and importers look torn betwixt bracing for Trump's tariffs to really instrumentality effect adjacent period connected 1 hand, and betting that Trump volition postpone them yet again connected the other.

The steep levies, immoderate arsenic high arsenic 40%, could cripple some the U.S. system and the economies of trading partners.

Bessent's remarks travel arsenic apical Trump medication officials person insisted successful caller days that Aug. 1 is simply a "hard deadline."

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, for instance, said Sunday that "nothing stops countries from talking to america aft August 1, but they're going to commencement paying the tariffs connected August 1."

Bessent besides said that "our trading partners were told that the rates could boomerang backmost toward the April 2 levels."

"We tin proceed talking then, but again, we're proceeding apace with the negotiations, but we're not going to unreserved for the involvement of doing deals."

Trump's tariff deadline has shifted a fig of times since his April 2 announcement imposing steep levies connected trading partners, casting uncertainty connected whether the Aug. 1 deadline volition hold, oregon if it's viewed wrong the medication arsenic different instrumentality to get trading partners to the negotiating table.

In different motion that Bessent views Aug. 1 tariffs, erstwhile imposed, arsenic different negotiating tool, helium said Monday that the medication is "more acrophobic with precocious quality" commercialized deals, than getting deals done by August 1.

"The important happening present is the prime of the deal, not the timing of the deals," Bessent said.