U.S. more concerned with getting 'high-quality' trade deals than meeting Aug. 1 deadline: Bessent

▲ This file photo, released by Reuters, shows U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaking to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on June 27, 2025. (Yonhap)

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U.S. more concerned with getting 'high-quality' trade deals than meeting Aug. 1 deadline: Bessent

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, July 21 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is more concerned with getting "high-quality" deals with trading partners rather than meeting the Aug. 1 negotiation deadline, the treasury secretary said Monday, noting that Washington will not rush.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made the remarks as South Korea, Japan and other countries are striving to reach trade deals with the United States before Aug. 1 when the Trump administration's steep "reciprocal" tariffs, including 25 percent duties on Korea, are set to take effect.

"We are more concerned with high-quality deals than getting these deals done by Aug. 1. Our trading partners were told that the rates could boomerang back toward the April 2 levels," Bessent said during a CNBC interview.

"We can continue talking then, but again, we are proceeding at pace with the negotiations. But we're not going to rush for the sake of doing deals," he added.

On April 2, Trump announced reciprocal tariffs to address tariff and non-tariff barriers to American exports. The tariffs took effect on April 9, but he paused them that same day for 90 days to allow for negotiations. Trump later extended the pause, saying the U.S. will start imposing them on Aug. 1.

Asked whether the negotiation deadline could be extended again, Bessent hinted that even if the tariffs go into effect on Aug. 1 as planned, negotiations could continue.

"We will see what the president wants to do," he said. "But again, if we somehow boomerang back to the Aug. 1 tariffs, I would think that a higher tariff level will put more pressure on those countries to come with better agreements."

Through ongoing negotiations, Seoul hopes to avoid or mitigate the impact of the reciprocal tariffs as well as sector-specific tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles amid concerns that those new levies would weigh heavily on Korea's export-reliant economy.

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