The Trump administration has signaled that it is more concerned with the quality of trade deals than chasing time, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline to finalize a deal or face higher tariffs.
“We’re not going to rush just to sign a deal,” Bessent said in an interview.
Asked whether the deadline could be extended for countries that are in positive talks with Washington, Bessent said the decision rests with President Donald Trump.
“We’ll see what the president wants to do. But if we go back to the Aug. 1 tariffs, I think higher tariffs would put more pressure on the countries involved to offer a better deal,” he said.
On China, Bessent said talks would be held “in the near future.”
“I think trade is in a good place now and we can start talking about other things. Unfortunately, China is a major buyer of Iranian oil and Russia, which is under sanctions,” he said.
“We can also discuss the big issue that is often overlooked, which is the massive economic restructuring that China needs to undertake.”
Speaking to CNBC, Bessent said he would encourage Europe to follow the US lead if secondary tariffs are imposed on Russia.
On Japan, Bessent stressed that the US administration is less concerned with Japan’s internal politics and more focused on getting the best deal for the American people.
