Trump shrugs off July tariff deadline: 'We can do whatever we want'

President Donald Trump said Friday helium whitethorn not instrumentality to the deadline successful aboriginal July erstwhile monolithic U.S. tariffs are acceptable to drawback backmost into effect connected a slew of countries.

"No, we tin bash immoderate we want," Trump said astatine the White House erstwhile asked if his deadline was acceptable successful stone. "We could widen it. We could marque it shorter."

The question had specifically been astir July 9, the deadline for the U.S. and the European Union to negociate a commercialized woody oregon other trigger a 50% tariff connected EU imports to instrumentality effect.

But the president's reply appeared to notation to a July 8 deadline erstwhile a three-month intermission connected his self-described "reciprocal tariffs" connected galore nations ends, sending country-specific tariff rates backmost up to their initial, overmuch higher levels.

Despite Trump's evident flexibility arsenic to the dates, the executive order helium signed connected April 9 is not flexible unless it's formally updated.

That bid reduced Trump's country-specific tariffs down to a complaint of 10% crossed the committee for 90 days, and specified that the impermanent reprieve would lone past for 3 months.

Unless Trump revises his order, the sweeping tariffs volition instrumentality to their sky-high rates successful 12 days.

That could person a large interaction connected a slew of U.S. trading partners, and risks repeating the planetary economical turmoil that Trump acceptable disconnected erstwhile helium announced the archetypal tariff rates connected April 2.

Countries were blindsided by the monolithic import duties — immoderate arsenic precocious arsenic astir 50% — that Trump rolled retired connected what helium called "liberation day."

What instantly followed were days of highly volatile markets and disapproval and alarm from investors, satellite leaders and importers. One week later, Trump announced a 90-day intermission connected the caller tariff rates.

The White House initially suggested successful April that it would hammer retired idiosyncratic commercialized deals with scores of countries successful the intervening months.

But with little than 2 weeks remaining successful the 90-day interim period, the White House has truthful acold lone struck constricted commercialized agreements with China and the United Kingdom.

Both of those deals person been described arsenic much akin to frameworks than to finalized deals. Beijing's Commerce Ministry said earlier Friday that China and the U.S. person confirmed the details of the commercialized model that some sides agreed to successful anterior talks.

"We've made a woody with astir apt 4 oregon 5 antithetic countries," Trump said Friday, but "We person 200 countries, you could accidental 200 countries plus," connected the database of country-specific tariff targets from April.

"So astatine a definite point, implicit the adjacent week and a fractional oregon so, oregon possibly before, we're going to nonstop retired a letter, we talked to galore of the countries, and we're conscionable going to archer them what they person to wage to bash concern successful the United States, and it's going to spell precise quickly," said Trump.

Trump's latest comments followed different caller suggestions by medication officials that the July tariff deadlines are fluid.

"Perhaps it could beryllium extended, but that's a determination for the president to make," White House property caput Karoline Leavitt said Thursday.

In precocious May, a national commercialized tribunal struck down the tariffs, ruling that the instrumentality Trump invoked to enforce them did not assistance him the authorization helium claimed it did. But a national appeals tribunal has paused that ruling from taking effect.