President Donald Trump, when asked if another 100% tariff on top of existing tariffs on Chinese goods would damage the economy, said, "It's not sustainable, but that's what the number is."
President Donald Trump posted on social media that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a long, "very productive" phone call on Oct. 16. In addition to talking about the ceasefire in Gaza and the first lady's efforts to get Ukrainian children held in Russia or Russia-occupied Ukraine back to their parents in free Ukraine, "we also spent a great deal of time talking about Trade between Russia and the United States when the War with Ukraine is over," he wrote.
President Donald Trump, in response to a question about whether he would engage in trade talks with India, said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi "assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia. That's a big stop. Now I got to get China to do the same thing."
White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told an Axios interviewer that the administration was taken aback by China's announcement of extraterritorial export controls on products made with rare earths processed in China.
Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca reached a deal with the Trump administration that will delay Section 232 tariffs for three years, the company announced in an Oct. 10 press statement.
A White House official said that active pharmaceutical ingredients imported into the U.S. for medicine manufacturing will be covered by the Section 232 tariffs on branded pharmaceuticals.
President Donald Trump and Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had a "friendly" talk for 30 minutes Oct. 6, according to an unofficial translation of a Brazilian readout. Trump wrote on social media, "This morning, I had a very good telephone call with President Lula, of Brazil. We discussed many things, but it was mostly focused on the Economy, and Trade, between our two Countries. We will be having further discussions, and will get together in the not too distant future, both in Brazil and the United States. I enjoyed the call — Our Countries will do very well together!"
There will be some rapprochement on trade between India and the U.S. by the end of the year, but nothing substantive, former U.S. trade negotiators predicted during an Oct. 3 webinar.
Pharmaceutical tariffs were not applied on Oct. 1, as previously threatened by the Trump administration (see 2509250066), to give companies time to continue negotiating and begin on-shoring their manufacturing, according to recent statements by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
A White House official confirmed that the Trump administration supports a one-year renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act. This puts the White House in line with congressional support for the program (see 2510010005), which expired Oct. 1.