Treasury secretary says countries without trade deals will see tariffs 'boomerang' to April rates by Aug. 1

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that the U.S. will revert to steep country-by-country tariff rates at the beginning of August

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that the U.S. will revert to steep country-by-country tariff rates at the beginning of August, weeks after the tariff rate pause is set to expire.

“President Trump’s going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners saying that if you don’t move things along, then on Aug. 1, you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level,” Bessent said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “So I think we’re going to see a lot of deals very quickly.”

President Donald Trump had originally set a 90-day deadline — set to expire Wednesday — for countries to renegotiate the eye-watering tariff levels he laid out in his April 2 “Liberation Day” speech. He paused those rates a week later, while setting a new 90-day deadline to renegotiate them.

That deadline was set to expire Wednesday.

CNN host Dana Bash responded to Bessent on Sunday, saying, “There’s basically a new deadline,” prompting Bessent to push back.