Former U.S. President, Donald Trump, had hinted at an upcoming announcement on May 8, related to a significant trade agreement. However, in his teaser, he refrained from offering any specifics about the anticipated deal, simply stating with emphasis that it pertains to a ‘large, and highly reputed, nation.’ According to reports from The New York Times and Politico, which cited unnamed sources, the concerned nation is Britain.
Trump had initiated mutual tariff impositions against a range of nations on the 2nd of April. Following this, he chose to temporarily halt most of them for a period of three months, while indicating that these nations were keen to negotiate trade agreements. Officials from his administration have continually stated that such agreements were near their concluding stages, although there haven’t been any official announcements about the same.
Trump brought up the topic of these much-anticipated trade agreements during a meeting with Canada’s prime minister that took place on May 6. Reflecting the urgency perceived by other parties, Trump quoted common queries about the timeline of the said deals: ‘When, when, when are you going to sign deals?’
Moreover, Trump highlighted the autonomy of the United States in these negotiations, stating ‘We don’t have to sign deals. We could sign 25 deals right now…if we wanted. We don’t have to sign deals. They have to sign deals with us. They want a share of our market.’ Indicating that the other nations were more dependent on these deals than the United States.
Trump also expressed his dissatisfaction with the persistent inquiries. He wished for a halt on such questionings as to the quantity of deals being finalized in a given week. His quote, ‘I wish they’d stop asking how many deals are you signing this week,’ underlines his frustration.
Scott Bessent, the then Treasury Secretary, had suggested to legislators during a committee hearing held on May 6 that these elusive agreements could materialize soon. He foresaw an announcement about trade deals involving the U.S. and some of its most substantial trade partners as imminent, possibly within that same week.
Bessent termed 18 nations as ‘major trading partners’ in the context of U.S. foreign trade. He affirmed that negotiations with all these countries have been initiated, with the sole exception of China – a notable absence.
However, talks involving officials of the U.S. and China are now confirmed to be in the pipeline. Providing reassurances that no parties were being left out of the discussion, Bessent mentioned an upcoming planned meeting with China’s foremost representative in economic matters.
In terms of timeline, Bessent along with the U.S. Trade Representative was scheduled to travel to Switzerland on May 8. It was clarified that the main purpose of this trip was a meeting with China’s lead delegate in economic affairs, further strengthening the narrative of forthcoming trade deals.