US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: Not the end of the world if tariffs snap back

United States (US) Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hit newswires on Tuesday following the conclusion of the latest round of trade talks between the US and China. Despite insistence that progress is being made, little of note has come to pass as of yet in the way of solidified trade terms in the run-up to the Trump administration's self-imposed August 1 deadline for global reciprocal tariffs.

Treasury Secretary Bessent helped to seed the idea of yet another kick of the tariff can down the road, citing a possible new deadline of August 12 for US-China trade talks, however Bessent still leaned into the Trump team's playbook of threatening the return of stiff import taxes across the board into the US if other countries don't deliver desirable trade agreements, a goal that has been yet to materialize despite months of tariff threats from President Donald Trump.

Key highlights

Trump will make the final decision on August 12 deadline.
US-China trade meetings are "robust".
US continues to perfect "rare earth systems".
US has made progress on rare earths.
US urged China to work on rebalancing economy, move toward consumer economy.

EU trade and EU investment agreement will be closely monitored.
Would be surprised if EU doesn't hold up bargain.
Bessent assumes the US-EU trade deal is confirmed.

Not the end of the world if tariffs snap back for days or weeks as long as countries are trying to negotiate.
Happy to do deals ahead of August 1 deadline, or we can just have tariff income.
Don't know where we're going to be in 90 days.
The good news is we're talking, and have communication at all levels.