US Treasury Secretary Says Trade Agenda Could Wrap By September

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration’s agenda for trade agreements could get wrapped up by the Labor Day holiday, indicating some negotiations are likely to extend past the upcoming July deadline for elevated reciprocal tariffs.

“We have countries approaching us with very good deals,” Bessent said Friday on Fox Business, highlighting Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s comments the day before that the White House has imminent plans to reach agreements with 10 major trading partners.

Bessent reiterated that there are 18 important trading partners, and noted that the US has already done a deal with the UK and reached an accommodation with China, so those two “are behind us for now.”

“So if we can ink 10 or 12 of the important 18 — there are another important 20 relationships — then I think we could have trade wrapped up by Labor Day,” Bessent said. This year, Labor Day falls on Sept. 1. He didn’t specify the countries he expects deals with.

President Donald Trump put his April 2 “reciprocal” tariffs on American trading partners on pause for three months a week after declaring them, and that deadline looms July 9. Lutnick, speaking on Bloomberg Television on Thursday, said that Trump was prepared to finalize a slate of trade deals in connection with that July timeframe.

“We’re going to do top 10 deals, put them in the right category, and then these other countries will fit behind,” Lutnick said.