Trump Patience on Tariffs Runs Thin as Nations Jostle for Deals

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“But worse comes to worst, he is fully prepared to go through with the tariffs and have that be the end of the story.”

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Trump opened the week by extending the July 9 tariff deadline to Aug. 1 and renewing his threat to Japan and South Korea, where talks have dragged. At a cabinet meeting, Bessent boasted about the flood of taxes being collected from importers.

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The president has bristled at what’s been called the “TACO trade,” with markets betting that “Trump always chickens out” on tariff threats, and insisted this extension would be the last. He also announced his long-simmering copper tariff, setting it at 50% and saying it would be enacted Aug. 1 — a levy poised to capture a wide range of derivative products. He also threatened a 200% pharmaceutical levy.

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“I assume that what we are seeing here is a negotiating tactic,” said Lars Suedekum, a personal economic adviser to German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil. “We have seen this many times in recent weeks: customs announcements followed by suspensions and customs breaks. It’s been quite a back and forth. I see no reason why it should be any different this time.”

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Still, the extension set off another frenzied struggle with nations hopeful they could sway a president whose tariff agenda has moved in fits-and-starts and reversals. 

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India has been making progress on an interim trade deal that could reduce its proposed tariffs to below 20%, people familiar with the matter said, adding that New Delhi does not expect to receive a tariff demand letter. Even with Bessent headed to Japan, the prospect of a breakthrough is unclear and the US is awaiting a better offer from Tokyo, an American official said.

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White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on Friday encouraged another country facing higher tariffs, Canada, to keep talking, underscoring that the door remains open to negotiations.

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“I would urge the Canadian citizens to urge their leaders to negotiate fairly with us,” he told Bloomberg Television on Friday.

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Widening Clashes

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Trump’s letters announcing tariffs to individual countries were initially boilerplate, distributed to partners he’d hit with elevated tariffs in his April 2 “Liberation Day” announcement, all of which run trade surpluses with the US.

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But his targets have widened: He threatened a 50% rate on Brazil, pressuring that country to stop legal proceedings against his ally, Jair Bolsonaro, a major escalation demonstrating how Trump has weaponized trade powers for unrelated disputes. The move also signaled that Trump would apply elevated rates even to countries, like Brazil, with which the US runs a goods trade surplus.

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He’s also been stepping up his threats against BRICS nations, vowing extra levies even if they reach some kind of accord with him.

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Where Does President Trump’s Tariff Campaign Stand? QuickTake

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The 35% tariff on Canada hit one of the biggest American trading partners and a country that was not facing an imminent tariff hike, like other recipients of his letters. That increase, though, is not poised to apply to energy products, which will remain at a 10% rate, or goods compliant with the USMCA trade pact.

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Trump also signaled to NBC in an interview that he might simply raise blanket tariffs to 15% or 20%, up from 10% now for nearly all trading partners, though it’s not clear how widely that move would apply.