Trade tensions loom ahead of Friday deadline

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The Big Story

Trade tensions rise against Trump's Friday deadline

White House trade talks are intensifying ahead of Aug. 1 deadline for “reciprocal” tariffs and as President Trump stares down a big week on the economy.

Talks between the U.S. and China are starting in Stockholm, Sweden, and Trump and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer are in Scotland fleshing out the U.K. trade deal that was announced earlier this year.

Trump’s Aug. 1 deadline for the resumption of tariffs is fast approaching, though China and the U.S. are facing an Aug. 12 deadline following agreements announced in May and June that brought down mutually imposed triple-digit tariffs.

The White House announced a trade deal with the European Union on Sunday that will see the EU purchase U.S. fossil fuels. European leaders are criticizing the deal.

“It’s a dark day when an alliance of free peoples — who are joined to affirm their values and defend their interests — resolve to submit,” French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said.

Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on any other country that doesn’t make a trade deal before Friday, suggesting Monday that that rate would be around 15 percent to 20 percent.

“We’re going to be setting a tariff for essentially the rest of the world, and that’s what they’re going to pay if they want to do business in the United States. Because you can’t sit down and do 200 deals. But we made the big ones,” he said.

The White House has also insisted it would hold the Aug. 1 deadline, while previous deadlines for tariffs have moved since April.

Read more here on Trump's big economic week from The Hill's Tobias Burns and Alex Gangitano.

Welcome to The Hill’s Business & Economy newsletter, I'm Aris Folley — covering the intersection of Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

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