Trump flexes muscle tissue, India waits for ‘interim’ commerce deal

After the inventory market misplaced $3.1 trillion the day after the ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs had been introduced on 2 April, the US president hurriedly introduced a 90-day suspension of the unilateral, country-specific tariffs on 9 April. The deadline expires on 9 July, Wednesday, which is tomorrow.

The day earlier than the deadline ends, at the moment, Trump introduced tariffs starting from 25 to 40 per cent on good imported from 14 international locations, and in equivalent letters signed by him, invited them to signal BTAs with the US in the course of the present month.

In the event that they signal the offers, the tariffs might be modified ‘upwards’ or ‘downwards’, assured Trump. In the event that they fail to signal such a deal to the satisfaction of the US, he threatened, the ‘Liberation Day tariff’ introduced on 2 April would kick in from 1 August. Successfully, Trump has kicked the can for 3 extra weeks and prolonged the deadline to the top of July.

Most observers see the transfer as a face-saving measure by the US president. Whereas suspending his new tariffs on 9 April, Trump had claimed that international locations had been falling over one another to ‘kiss his ass’. Mocking the US’s buying and selling companions, the president had mimicked them saying, “sure sir, please sir”, and added that the US could be signing 90 offers within the subsequent 90 days.

Because the 90-day deadline ends on Wednesday, Trump has little to indicate, and US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has not helped by blurting out on TV that only a few international locations had truly contacted the US.

All that the US has to indicate is an settlement with the UK, a commerce cope with Vietnam, and a ‘framework settlement’ with China — a far cry from the declare of signing 90 offers in 90 days. The US president, nonetheless, as soon as once more claimed on 7 July that the US and India had been very near signing a deal.