President Donald Trump’s commerce secretary had to step in after he appeared lost on the latest development in his sprawling trade war.
Speaking to reporters in New Jersey on Sunday, Trump announced that the administration would be sending out about a dozen letters throughout the week warning other countries that tariffs will be reinstated if they don’t close a trade deal soon. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier in the day that the tariffs would come back into effect on Aug. 1, effectively extending the original July 9 deadline.
When a reporter asked Trump when the tariff rates would change—if at all—the president didn’t seem to have a clue.
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“What are you talking about?” he said, prompting the reporter to repeat herself. “They’re going to be tariffs. The tariffs are going to be the tariffs. I think we’ll have most countries done by July 9, either a letter or a deal.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick then swooped in to clarify: “Tariffs go into effect Aug. 1, but the president is setting the rates and the deals right now.”
The administration’s 90-day pause on its tariff rollout is set to expire on Wednesday, meaning that countries may soon face levies of 10 to 70 percent, as announced in April. Bessent told CNN’s State of the Union, however, that it remains to be seen what happens next.
“President Trump is going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners saying that if you don’t move things along, then on Aug. 1st, you will be boomerang back to your April 2nd tariff level,” he said. “I think we’re gonna see a lot of deals very quickly.”
The announcement postpones the original July 9 deadline, but Bessent refused to call it an extension.
“It’s not a new deadline,” he argued. “We are saying this is when it’s happening. If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that’s your choice.”
Asked whether the administration was expecting to sign any deals this week, Lutnick played it vague.
“Well, the president is right in the midst of discussing all sorts of deals with all sorts of countries,” he said. “And I’m going to be with him when he makes that decision.”
The first batch of letters is set to go out at noon Eastern Time on Monday, Trump said in a Truth Social post.
The president also issued a veiled threat against any country that cozies up to BRICS, a group of countries composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
“Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy,” Trump wrote, without offering any further details.
The on-again, off-again tariff rollout has earned the president a moniker among Wall Street brokers: TACO, which stands for Trump Always Chickens Out. The nickname angered Trump, who countered that “it’s called negotiation.”
But an unnamed White House insider told Politico that the tariff chaos is all just part of a show.
“Trump knows the most interesting part of his presidency is the tariff conversation,” the insider said. “It’s all fake. There’s no deadline. It’s a self-imposed landmark in this theatrical show, and that’s where we are.”
