US Treasury Secretary: Trump will decide whether to extend trade negotiations

On July 4, U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin stated that Trump will decide whether to extend negotiations with trade partners beyond the July 9 deadline. Mnuchin was asked on CNBC whether it was possible to extend the deadline and said, "We will act according to the president's wishes, and it will be up to him to decide whether they are negotiating in good faith." Mnuchin said he met with the EU trade representative on Thursday morning and indicated that U.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer would be "working hard with European officials over the weekend." When asked about the negotiations with Japan, Mnuchin stated that no agreement had been reached with Japan, possibly due to domestic politics complicating the negotiations. Regarding Vietnam, Mnuchin noted that his understanding is that an agreement "has been reached in principle," and the 20% tariffs announced by Trump are a core component of that agreement, which will not be added on top of the 10% general tariff. ( Jin10 )