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Investing.com -- President Trump offered some fresh comments on trade deals Tuesday, suggesting he is in no real hurry to sign any deals despite the clock ticking on the 90-day reciprocal tariff pause.
"Everyone says ’when are you gonna sign deals?," Trump commented today at the White House. "We don’t have to sign deals."
Trump indicated that the U.S. could sign numerous deals immediately but chooses to prioritize the nation’s interests, stating that other countries need the U.S. market more than the U.S. needs theirs.
More and more, it is looking like Trump will not offer free trade agreements, but all countries importing to the U.S. will have to pay a minimum tariff.
“I think my people haven’t made it clear,” Trump added. “We will sign some deals. But much bigger than that is we’re going to put down the price that people are going to have to pay to shop in the United States. Think of us as a super luxury store and we have the goods.”
The President explained that the strategy involves sitting down with his team, which includes Howard Lutnick, Scott Bessent, VP JD Vance and other officials, to establish a series of fair numbers that countries will pay to do business with the U.S. He stressed that the numbers would be reasonable and not intended to harm other nations, but rather to ensure fair play and mutual benefit.
Trump also addressed the issue of high tariffs, particularly pointing to India as an example, and noted that they have already agreed to reduce their tariffs significantly. He emphasized that the U.S. would not tolerate high tariffs and expects other countries to open up their markets or lower their tariffs as part of the trade negotiations.
Today’s comments follow reports in Japan on Monday that Trump is only willing to cut the 14 percent country-specific tariffs and would not negotiate the global 10 percent baseline levy or tariffs on cars and steel products.