President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One as he flew in Asia, said he expects that the 20% tranche of tariffs on China, levied due to China's lack of action to crack down on fentanyl trafficking, will be lowered after he meets with President Xi Jinping in South Korea.
South Korea's government said it has agreed to the details of a trade deal that lowers tariffs on goods outside the Section 232 actions to 15%, all-inclusive, and applies that rate to autos manufactured in Korea, too.
More Republicans will vote to roll back fentanyl tariffs on Canada, lead sponsor Sen. Tim Kaine predicted the evening of Oct. 28, ahead of a vote on the Brazil emergency underpinning additional 40% tariffs on the majority of Brazilian exports.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there's no hang-up preventing the South Korean trade framework from moving to a signed deal, "just a lot of details to work out. It's a very complicated deal, and I think we're very close." However, he told reporters on Air Force One on Oct. 27 that he didn't think it would be done by Oct. 29, when the president lands in Korea.
The U.S. released an outline of an agreed-to deal with Vietnam, but said it will be finalized "in coming weeks."
The U.S. and Thailand issued a joint statement on a trade framework over the weekend, which says Thailand will eliminate tariff barriers on about 99% of U.S. exports, while the U.S. will exclude some products from the Sept. 5 Annex III (see 2509050073) to spare them from 19% reciprocal tariffs. Those goods will still be subject to most-favored nation duties, and the 19% is added to MFN, as well. The final agreement will be negotiated over coming weeks, the statement says.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in an appearance on "Meet the Press," evaded a question about the scope and timing of threatened additional 10% tariffs on Canadian goods.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said after two days of meeting with Chinese negotiators, he anticipates a threatened additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods won't come Nov. 1, and that the Chinese will defer their critical minerals export control licensing scheme.
President Donald Trump signed trade deals with Cambodia and Malaysia, leaving 19% tariffs on both Cambodian and Malaysian goods, with some carve-outs for tropical fruits and woods, minerals, and some goods covered by pending Section 232 investigations, such as aviation parts and chemicals used to make pharmaceuticals. The 19% tariffs layer on top of most-favored nation rates, which, in the case of apparel and shoes that dominate Cambodia's top exports, are already quite high.
The Trump administration signaled that it doesn't expect to have a signing ceremony of a trade framework with South Korea while the president is there in the coming days for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.