President Donald Trump offered a bungled response when asked about when tariff rates are going to return to April levels, with the 90-day pause on most levies set to end next week.
A week after implementing his so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs in April, which sent the stock market tumbling, the president announced a pause to his plan, delaying the “reciprocal” levies from taking effect for 90 days. That pause is set to expire on Wednesday, July 9.
Speaking at Morristown Municipal Airport on Sunday evening, a reporter asked Trump to clarify when the tariff rates are set to resume: “Mr. President, do the tariff rates change at all on July 9 or do they change on August 1?”
Perhaps not hearing clearly over the roar of Air Force One nearby, Trump leaned in and asked the reporter to repeat her question. He then didn’t answer the question at all.
“They’re going to be tariffs. The tariffs are going to be the tariffs. I think we’ll have most countries done by July 9. Either a letter or a deal,” he said.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick then stepped in: “But they go into effect August 1. Tariffs go into effect August 1.” Lutnick added: “But the president is setting the rates and the deals right now.”
Earlier in the day, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said about 100 letters will be sent to small countries “where we don’t have very much trade,” many of which are “already at the baseline 10 percent” rate.
“President Trump’s going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners saying that if you don’t move things along, then on August 1 you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level. So I think we’re going to see a lot of deals very quickly,” Bessent told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
The president has already touted trade agreements with the United Kingdom, China, and Vietnam.
“We are close to several deals. As always, there’s a lot of foot-dragging on the other side,” Bessent said. “I would expect to see several big announcements over the next couple of days.”
