Commerce secretary Howard Lunick said that trade agreements with South Korea and Japan could take much more time than the framework agreement, president of the president, Donald Trump, announced on Thursday with the United Kingdom, noting that some Asian partners may have to wait for tariff relief.
“You have to spend a lot of time with Japan, South Korea. It will not be quick offers,” said Libnick in an interview on Bloomberg Television.
Lutnick added that India was “very hard” and that the country was “certainly” a possibility of being among the next countries to conclude an agreement. But, he warned: “It's a lot of work.”
“When you talk about India, these are probably 7,000 lines” of tariffs to be modified or modified under a hypothetical agreement, said Lunick. “It just takes time, and it takes work – so give us a chance, do not push and do not rush.”
At the same time, Lutnick said that he hoped that initial transactions could serve as models for their respective regions, helping to illustrate the type of concessions that Trump was looking for in exchange for pricing relief.
“We are trying to show people a framework to do business so that we can ride much faster, right?” Said Libnick.
The trade chief, who played a main role in commercial negotiations, said that the reference rates of 10% of Trump remained a “net result”, but that many countries would undergo higher rates unless they move aggressively to open their savings. He also said that the British agreement has shown that nations could see Trump back up the sectoral prices he has imposed on products such as cars and metals that the president has deemed a national security priority.
Lutnick spoke for hours after Trump unveiled the framework agreement, which gives the United States access to the market and a faster customs process for exports in exchange for limited relief of the samples from cars, steel and aluminum. But managers of the United Kingdom and the United States have conceded that there were still important details to be developed, as well as exceptional concerns concerning long-standing problems such as standards of digital services of the United Kingdom and food standards.
After the announcement, Trump told journalists that he was “very close” to sign more chords.
“We have many transactions,” said Trump.
Trump unveiled the British agreement shortly before the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the US trade representative Jamieson Greer had to leave for Geneva, for weekend meetings with Chinese trade officials. The United States and China have exchanged punishable prices following Trump's announcement earlier this year, in a tit-for-tat that threatens the world economy.
This effort should be much more complicated than Trump's efforts to extract the concessions of traditional allies and partners, although Trump reported on Thursday that it would be willing to reduce prices if the talks progressed well.
“I think we are going to have a very good relationship,” he said.
This story was initially presented on Fortune.com
