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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (May25/23) Yerevan, 19 May (D. Ravi Kanth) — The Trump administration has seemingly threatened countries that if they do not “negotiate in good faith”, they could face the stated level of reciprocal tariffs that was announced by US President Donald Trump on 2 April, the US Treasury Secretary suggested on 18 May. In two separate talk shows – one on CNN and another on the CBS news channel – the US Treasury Secretary, Mr Scott Bessent, stated that Washington is actively negotiating with some 18 or 20 countries, suggesting that if these countries don’t settle for an agreement with Washington before the end of the proposed pause period of 90 days, then they could face the reciprocal tariffs that were announced against them on 2 April. When asked whether it was true that 150 countries have been put on notice that their tariffs will go higher in the next few weeks if they don’t reach a trade deal with the US, Mr Bessent said that “we have a 90-day pause,” suggesting that “there are 18 important trading partners, probably another 20 strong relationships” that the US is most focused on. Asked about the notice that “if you do not negotiate in good faith, that you will ratchet back up to your April 2 level [of the reciprocal tariff],” the Treasury Secretary said, “With a few exceptions, the countries are coming with very good proposals for us,” adding that they want “to lower their tariffs, they want to lower their non-tariff barriers.” According to Mr Bessent, some countries “have been manipulating their currency” and even “subsidizing industry and labor.” As regards the rest of the countries, which are not in the active stage of the so-called “good faith” negotiations, Mr Bessent suggested that “it will depend on whether they’re negotiating in good faith, and there are a lot of smaller trading relationships that we can just come up with a number.” Elaborating further on the reciprocal tariffs, the Treasury Secretary said, “My other sense is that we will do a lot of regional deals – this is the rate for Central America, this is the rate for this part of Africa.” The US administration, according to the Treasury Secretary, will advise countries that fail to make agreements with the US of their final reciprocal tariff rate by letter. Mr Bessent suggested that those rates would reflect the levels announced by President Trump on 2 April. “Some countries were at 10 percent, some were substantially higher. And the negotiating leverage that President Trump is talking about here is if you don’t negotiate, then it will spring back to the April 2nd level.” On 16 May in Abu Dhabi, President Trump said that time is running out for countries to make a trade deal with the United States. In a rather telling comment, President Trump stated unambiguously that if they fail to conclude an agreement with the US, then they will receive letters indicating how much they “have to pay to do business with the US.” The US will send the letters in the next two or three weeks, President Trump added. Further, he stated that his administration can’t reach agreements with 150 countries. +
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