Trump Tariffs to Take Effect August 1 for Nations Without Trade Deals — Treasury Secretary Bessent Confirms

The secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, said on Sunday that the steep prices that President of President Donald Trump announced in April come into force on August 1 for American trade partners who do not reach new trade agreements with Washington before.

The move puts an end to a 90 -day suspended price which had calmed the world markets but now reintroduces uncertainty, in particular for countries still locked in commercial negotiations with the administration.

Speaking on the state of the Union of CNN, Bessent clearly indicated that letters will be sent this week to several countries informing them of the imminent reversion to the “pricing level of April 2”, unless the agreements are concluded in the coming days.

“President Trump will send letters to some of our business partners saying that if you don’t move things, then on August 1, you’ll come back to the April 2 rate,” said Bessent.

Bessent rejected the idea that August 1 constitutes a new deadline, insisting rather that it is a final date of implementation.

“We say that this is when it happens. If you want to accelerate things, you have,” he said, stressing that countries are free to renegotiate the terms before the new rate takes effect.

Context: the April pricing shock and the 90 -day stay

In April, Trump amazed markets and allies by announcing radical “reciprocal prices” on almost all the main American business partners, citing decades of unfair treatment. But after the reactions and threats of generalized reprisals from countries such as Canada, Germany, South Korea and Japan, the president issued a 90 -day break on implementation – a decision that bought time for negotiations but also introduced confusion on the real tariff calendar.

The initial deadline was to reach on July 9, based on the executive decree of April 9 of Trump. However, Bessent’s comments – as well as the remarks of the Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Trump himself – confirm that August 1 is now the date of entry into force. Despite this quarter of work on Sunday, the White House had not published a revised decree officially modifying the date from July 9 to August 1.

“They will start paying on August 1,” Trump told journalists on Friday. “Money will start in the United States on August 1, in almost all cases.”

Market implications and bilateral links

The decision exerts intense pressure on the American allies to finalize the new commercial terms in the next three weeks. Trump and Bessent suggested that the “big announcements” of new agreements could arrive in the coming days. However, many economists warn that commercial transactions – even closer pricing negotiations – often take years to conclude.

“American negotiated free trade agreements have taken an average of three years,” said Rajeev Sibal, a principal world economist in Morgan Stanley. “Even if these talks are more targeted, the previous history remains informative.”

The aggressive pricing posture of the administration increases red flags on the financial markets. US stock contracts fell on Sunday evening after confirmation of the date of implementation of August 1:

• Dow Futures fell 146 points, or 0.32%
• S&P 500 term contracts dropped by 0.39%
• The term contracts on the Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.42%

This withdrawal occurs despite a solid market rally last week, during which the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed its doors. The investors had largely believed that Trump’s “reciprocal” prices would not take fully effect, especially after the White House has minimized the deadline of July 9, the calling “not critical”.

Divided view of Wall Street

The markets are now navigating in a precarious mix of optimism on business benefits and anxiety with regard to sudden commercial escalations. Some, like Tom Lee, responsible for research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, consider volatility as an upward potential history.

“I agree with anyone who says that:” Listen, we have reshaped some of the economic flows around the prices “, but it is an upward story because if it happens better, it is a surprise of earnings,” said Lee on CNBC on Thursday. “This is the most hated V -shaped rally.”

But others fear that the combination of record assessments of equity and new trade barriers cannot inject new volatility. Companies with global supply chains are particularly exposed, in particular if rate rates increase beyond the expectations of investors or repair measures relaunch.

With the exhausting time, all eyes will be on the fact that Trump’s team can enclose commercial concessions or partial agreements in the days to come. While Bessent and Trump both suggested that letters to business partners would be released on Monday, the administration has so far avoided details which nations are closest to the agreements to conclude – and which should be struck by the full tariff regime.

Be that as it may, unless the White House issues an official reversal of the April decree, August 1 is now set at the central date – which could define the trajectory of American trade policy and the feeling of the market for the rest of the year.