Some trade deals with US may come as early as this week, suggests Trump

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump suggested that his administration could strike trade deals with some countries as soon as this week, offering the prospect of relief for trading partners seeking to avoid higher US import duties.

“It could very well be,” Mr Trump told reporters on May 4 when asked whether any trade agreements were coming this week. He didn’t specify any countries.

“We’re negotiating with many countries, but at the end of this, I’ll set my own deals – because I set the deal, they don’t set the deal,” Mr Trump said aboard Air Force One. “You keep asking the same question, ‘When will you agree?’ It’s up to me; it’s not up to them.”

Mr Trump also signalled that his aides are having conversations with counterparts from China, the biggest target of his trade policies.

China has been the focus of Mr Trump’s tariff campaign, leading Beijing to retaliate against US levies,

which now run as high as 145 per cent on Chinese goods

.

China has been hinting at a possible thaw in recent days, while Mr Trump told NBC News in comments broadcast on May 4 that he is willing to lower US tariffs at some point.

In response to a question on Air Force One, Mr Trump said he has no plans to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

China confirmed last week for the first time that its authorities are in communication with American officials over trade deals.

Discussions have already been under way with Mr Trump’s aides and other countries, but top officials continue to signal that they ultimately they may still intend to impose duties on trading partners. 

“At a certain point, I’ll be just setting a certain tariff number,” Mr Trump said on May 4. “At some point in the next two weeks or three weeks, I’m going to be setting the deal.”

“I’m going to say that such and such a country has had a tremendous trade surplus – surplus their way – with us and

they’ve taken advantage of us in various ways

, and we fully understand what they were doing,” he said. 

Mr Trump’s sweeping tariff policies have whipsawed global markets in recent weeks, sparking fears of an economic downturn and weighing on the US dollar. 

Last week, data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed that US gross domestic product contracted for the first time in three years. BLOOMBERG