Trump Pushes Back Tariff Deadline, Betting on Last-Minute Trade Deals
President Donald Trump recently decided to hit the pause button on his much-talked-about reciprocal tariffs, delaying their implementation until August 1. This move came after advisors, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, convinced him that more time could unlock better trade deals. According to insiders familiar with the discussions, several negotiations with key trading partners like India and the European Union were showing promise just as the original deadline loomed.
Initially, the administration had set a pause on the tariffs, which were slated to kick in right after midnight on a Wednesday. But Trump, after some serious phone calls and behind-the-scenes chats with allies—some of them from his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club—pushed the date back by three weeks. Along with the delay, the White House also sent warning letters to various countries, letting them know the tariff rates they’d be staring down come August 1 if no deal was reached.
Behind the Scenes: The Thought Process
The weekend leading up to the Monday announcement was full of back-and-forth. Trump was weighing his options, trying to figure out whether to set a hard August 1 deadline or just send vague letters announcing new tariffs without a fixed date. The decision wasn’t easy. Publicly, Trump had hinted at moving away from the usual “negotiate-to-avoid-tariffs” game. But private conversations with Bessent changed the tune. Bessent, a key figure in Trump’s economic team, convinced him that some deals were close enough to warrant patience.
Bessent had already played a pivotal role earlier in the year, persuading Trump to impose a 90-day freeze on his April tariffs—those infamous "Liberation Day" tariffs that rattled global markets. This buy-more-time approach gave the White House a breathing room to hammer out more favorable terms with trading partners.
What Trump’s Team Thinks
White House spokesman Kush Desai pointed out that the U.S. is getting plenty of interest from countries looking to lower tariffs. Still, Trump has been clear about the U.S.'s position: “The United States, the world’s biggest and best consumer market, holds the cards and leverage in negotiations to unilaterally set deals with appropriate tariff rates for our trading partners.” That’s a bold stance—leaning on America’s massive buying power to shape trade terms on its own.
But even with this leverage, Trump privately vented frustration about slow progress. People close to him say he blamed trading partners for not bringing “good enough” offers to the table. In his mind, Trump was riding a wave of recent wins—the signing of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” and a high-profile bombing in Iran—and wanted to ride that momentum to victories on the trade front, too.
Letters as Negotiation Tools
In the end, the decision to delay the tariffs and send out those letters was a strategic move. Sources say Trump wanted to squeeze last-minute concessions out of his trading partners. By announcing a looming deadline while still keeping the door open for negotiations, the White House hoped to pressure countries into sweetening their offers.
On the day after the announcement, Trump mentioned that more letters were on the way. He was reportedly about two days away from sending one to the European Union. Officials from both sides remained in close contact, signaling ongoing talks.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick added fuel to the fire on CNBC, revealing that 15 to 20 new tariff letters would likely be published online in the next couple of days, targeting leaders around the globe.
Tariffs Are Still Coming
Trump, who has been a staunch supporter of tariffs throughout his presidency, made it clear that these moves aren’t going away anytime soon. “TARIFFS WILL START BEING PAID ON AUGUST 1, 2025. There has been no change to this date, and there will be no change,” he declared on Truth Social, doubling down on his hardline stance.
During a Tuesday cabinet meeting, Trump even framed his letters as formal trade agreements. “A letter means a deal,” he said confidently, while also acknowledging that negotiations continue behind the scenes.
Bigger Tariff Plans: Copper and Pharma
But wait, there’s more. Trump also previewed other tariff plans under a different legal authority. He announced intentions to slap a hefty 50% tariff on copper imports and, more dramatically, up to 200% tariffs on pharmaceuticals, citing national security concerns. That’s a serious escalation.
Companies importing pharmaceuticals would get a grace period of up to 18 months to relocate supply chains before the tariffs kick in—a move that could reshape global pharma manufacturing.
Lutnick confirmed that the copper tariffs announcement would drop imminently, with detailed reports on tariffs for semiconductors and pharmaceuticals expected by August 1.
Not Everyone’s Getting a Deal
Trump made it clear that not every one of the roughly 200 countries trading with the U.S. will get a customized deal to dodge his steep tariffs. “We got 200 countries. We can’t meet with 200 countries,” he said bluntly during the cabinet meeting.
His administration is targeting what it calls “bad actors” in trade—those countries the White House believes aren’t playing fair. These nations will face steeper reciprocal tariffs on top of the 10% baseline tariffs Trump has already imposed on nearly all U.S. imports.
Interestingly, the reciprocal tariffs won’t always match what those countries charge on American exports, meaning it’s less about equal treatment and more about pushing those countries to change their trade behavior.
Implementation Challenges and Customs
Rolling out the reciprocal tariffs isn’t a walk in the park. Trump’s first commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, explained the technical hurdles Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would face trying to update thousands of product codes in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule by the original July 9 deadline. That’s a ton of paperwork and system updates.
Ross said, “It takes [CBP] a while to implement tariffs,” and pointed out how complicated it would have been to hit that initial deadline with all the last-minute changes Trump’s team was making.
CBP, however, pushed back on this claim, stating that they were “on track to implement throughout” and ready to act on any presidential orders.
Still Room to Negotiate
Despite the tough talk and looming tariffs, there’s still a window for countries to avoid the worst of the damage. Lutnick emphasized that the letters sent out contained language offering to reconsider tariffs if countries significantly lower their tariffs and regulatory barriers on U.S. goods.
“You’ve seen in the letter that he says, if you change the way you treat America, we will listen and we will think about it,” Lutnick said.
In other words, it’s a carrot-and-stick approach: cut trade barriers, and the tariffs can come down.
The Trade Talks Document Shuffle
Behind the scenes, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office has been busy circulating term sheets—essentially detailed lists of what the U.S. wants from trade partners—in talks with about two dozen countries.
These documents look a lot like the proposed “agreement on reciprocal trade” with the EU that The Wall Street Journal reported last month, showing that the U.S. isn’t just threatening tariffs but also trying to lay the groundwork for formal trade agreements.
Wilbur Ross put it simply, “There’s nothing like a deadline to get someone to come to the table.” Those letters Trump sent this week may just do the trick in prompting countries to negotiate seriously.
Bottom Line: Trade Drama Unfolds
This delay and the accompanying tariff letters reflect a classic Trump strategy: keep trading partners guessing, apply pressure with tough deadlines, but leave the door open for last-minute deals. It’s a high-stakes game that banks on America’s economic heft and Trump’s negotiating style.
While some criticize the approach as disruptive and risky for global markets, the administration views it as leveraging the U.S.’s consumer power to force fairer trade deals. Whether this gamble pays off remains to be seen — but for now, the trade war chess game continues, with plenty of moves still to come before August 1.
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