Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that about 70 countries have reached out to the Trump administration to negotiate on tariffs that were announced this past week.
While he did not confirm whether there was any headway in negotiations, Bessent told Fox News’ Larry Kudlow on Monday that “50, 60, maybe almost 70 countries” have gotten in contact with the Trump administration looking to hold talks.
“It’s going to be a busy April, May, maybe into June,” he said.
“As I advised on many shows on April 2, I suggested that the foreign officials keep your cool. Do not escalate and come to us with your offers on how you’re going to drop tariffs, how you’re going to drop non-tariff barriers, how you’re going to stop your currency manipulation, how you’re going to stop the subsidized financing. And at a point, President Trump will be ready to negotiate.”
He then spoke of talks with the Japanese government, confirming that President Donald Trump told U.S. trade officials to lead negotiations with Japan.
“Japan is a very important military ally. They’re a very important economic ally, and the U.S. has a lot of history with them. So I would expect that Japan is going to get priority just because they came forward very quickly,” the Treasury secretary said.
“But it’s going to be very busy, and President Trump, again, gave himself maximum negotiating leverage, and just when he achieved the maximum leverage, he’s willing to start talking.”
When asked about whether the United States could reach a deal with Japan, Bessent did not say but cautioned that “negotiations are going to be tough.”
“If they come to the table with solid proposals, I think we can end up with some good deals,” he told CNBC in a separate interview about the negotiations.
This past week, the White House said that a 10 percent baseline tariff would be imposed on almost every country in the world, while more significant trading partners would see higher rates. In the subsequent days, Wall Street posted its worst two-day loss since the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Tuesday, the three major U.S. stock indexes clawed back some of their losses from the previous week as Bessent and other Trump administration officials confirmed negotiations would start. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up well over 1,000 points by Tuesday morning, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 saw gains as well
Trump administration officials say the president is following through on a promise to reverse decades of trade liberalization that he believes has undercut the U.S. economy. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump often said he would impose tariffs on countries to offset longstanding trade deficits.
Amid the uncertainty on Monday, Trump said that he wouldn’t initiate a pause on the tariffs amid online rumors that the administration would issue a 90-day reprieve.
