Washington, March 29 (IANS) US President Donald Trump has expressed openness to cutting tariff deals with other countries as he plans to unveil new taxes on imports in the coming days, but he suggested any deals would be made after the tariffs go into place on April 2.
“It’s possible if we can get something for the deal — but, you know, we’ve been taken advantage of for 40 years, maybe more. It’s just not going to happen anymore. But yeah, I’m certainly open to it,” Trump told reporters on Friday aboard Air Force One as he travelled to Florida, on being asked if he was open to making deals with countries like the UK that have discussed reducing tariffs on the US.
Pressed on whether that would happen before the tariffs are announced, he said, “No. Probably later.”
Trump also reiterated plans to announce pharmaceutical tariffs.
The President declined to provide a specific rate for those tariffs, but said it would be “enough to get the drugs and the pharmaceutical companies bringing their product into our country — we never want to have to rely on other countries, like we did during Covid.”
He downplayed a shift in tone regarding Canada following his Friday morning call with Prime Minister Mark Carney, saying, “I’ve always loved Canada and we had a very good conversation.”
Trump told reporters that countries, including Britain, had reached out to the United States to negotiate deals and avoid the reciprocal tariffs.
The European Union is outlining concessions it is prepared to offer the Trump administration in an effort to secure a partial rollback of US tariffs that have already impacted the bloc’s exports and are set to rise after April 2.
Bloomberg, citing sources, reported that during meetings in Washington this week, EU officials were told the new auto and reciprocal tariffs set to take effect next week could not be avoided.
Discussions also began on the possible framework for a deal to reduce these tariffs.
In response, the European Commission, which oversees trade policy for the EU, has started drafting a “term sheet” for a potential agreement.
The document would outline key areas for negotiation, including lowering EU tariffs, increasing mutual investments with the US, and easing certain regulations and standards, the sources said.
The reciprocal tariffs aim to counter what Trump views as unfair duties on US goods and non-tariff barriers, including domestic regulations and tax policies such as the EU’s value-added tax (VAT) and digital taxes.
The EU, however, argues that its VAT is a fair, non-discriminatory tax applied equally to both domestic and imported goods.
–IANS
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