US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that trade deals with South Korea and Japan could take significantly more time to complete than the framework agreement President Donald Trump announced on Thursday with the UK, in a signal that some Asian partners may have to wait for tariff relief.
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“You’ve got to spend an enormous amount of time with Japan, South Korea. These are not going to be fast deals,” Lutnick said in an interview.
Lutnick added that India has been “leaning in really hard” and the country was “certainly” a possibility to be among the next countries to reach an agreement. But, he cautioned, “this is a lot of work”.
“When you talk about India, it’s probably 7,000 lines” of tariffs to be changed or modified under a hypothetical agreement, Lutnick said. “It just takes time, and it just takes work – so give us a chance, don’t be pushing and rushing.”
At the same time, Lutnick said he was hopeful that initial deals could serve as templates for their respective regions, helping illustrate what kind of concessions Trump was looking for in exchange for tariff relief.
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“We’re trying to show people a frame for how to do business so that we can roll much more quickly, right?” Lutnick said.
The commerce chief, who has taken a lead role in trade negotiations, said that Trump’s 10 per cent baseline tariffs remained a “bottom line” but that many nations would experience higher rates unless they moved aggressively to open their economies.