“Some major trading partners believe they will “trade very quickly,” Bessent said on Tuesday.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent said about 70 countries contacted the Trump administration to negotiate the tariffs announced last week.
He didn’t confirm whether there was any progress in the negotiations, but Bescent said on Monday he had contacted the Trump administration, which is discussing “50, 60, perhaps nearly 70 countries” on Fox News.
“It’s going to be busy April, May, maybe June,” he said.
“As I advised at many shows on April 2, foreigners suggested keeping you cool. Don’t come to us with your offer on how you drop tariffs, how to drop non-tariff barriers, how you stop currency manipulation, how you stop subsidies lending.
He then spoke about consultations with the Japanese government and confirmed that President Donald Trump had told trade officials to lead negotiations with Japan.
“Japan is a very important military alliance. They are very important economic allies, and the US has a lot of history with them. So, just because they have made such a rapid progress, we would expect Japan to be given priority,” the Treasury Secretary said.
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“But it’s going to be very busy. President Trump has once again given the biggest negotiation leverage, and when he achieves the biggest leverage, he wants to start talking.”
When asked whether the US could reach a deal with Japan, Bescent did not say, but warned that “negotiations will be tough.”
“If they come to the table with solid proposals, I think we can end up with some good deals,” he told CNBC in another interview about the negotiations.
Over the past week, the White House said almost every country around the world would be subject to a baseline tariff of 10%, but said more important trading partners would see higher rates. Wall Street has since recorded its worst two-day loss since the Covid-19 pandemic.
On Tuesday, three major US stock indices curbed some of the losses from the previous week as Bencent and other Trump administration officials confirmed negotiations would begin. The Dow Jones industrial average was well above 1,000 points by Tuesday morning, but the Nasdaq and S&P 500 are also profiting.
Trump administration officials say the president is following his promise to reverse decades of trade liberalization that appears to have weakened the US economy. During the 2024 presidential election, Trump often said he would impose tariffs on the country to offset the long-standing trade deficit.
Amid uncertainty on Monday, Trump said he would not launch a tariff moratorium amid rumours online that the administration would issue a 90-day reprieve.
Reuters contributed to this report.
