Washington, USA (Weltexpress). President Donald J. Trump’s administration has drafted a framework for negotiations on foreign trade and customs duties with 18 countries in Washington, with the Kingdom of Canada, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the United Mexican States (UMS) unlikely to be on the list, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.
Officials in the United States of America (USA) are planning staggered trade negotiations and tariff talks using a new template that sets out common terms for many of the talks, according to the Wall Street Journal. In an attempt to streamline talks on US President Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs, officials want to use a framework prepared by the Office of the US Trade Representative that sets broad categories for the negotiations: Tariffs and quotas, non-tariff barriers to trade such as regulations on US goods, digital trade, rules of origin for products, and economic security and other trade issues, according to people familiar with a draft document outlining the terms of the negotiations.
Trump’s administration expects to reach agreements on reciprocal tariffs with 18 major trading partners by 8 July 2025. On 2 April 2025, President Trump announced the introduction of tariffs on products from 185 countries and territories. On 9 April 2025, he announced that he would suspend the additional import duties imposed on a number of countries and territories on a reciprocal basis for 90 days. The White House said the pause was related to trade negotiations and added that a general tariff rate of 10% would apply during that period. At the same time, the US president increased tariffs on products from the PRC to 125%. Taking into account the 20% rate previously imposed due to allegedly ineffective efforts by the governments of the Kingdom of Canada and the VMS in the fight against fentanyl smuggling, tariffs on goods from the PRC currently stand at 145%.
