Posted on 04/29/2025 8:02:20 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Tuesday teased that the Trump administration has reached its first trade deal, but said it was not fully finalized and declined to name the country involved.
“I have a deal done, done, done, done, but I need to wait for their prime minister and their parliament to give its approval, which I expect shortly,” Lutnick told CNBC’s Brian Sullivan.
The stock market rose to its highs of the session following the comments, as Wall Street is watching closely for signs of progress in trade negotiations.
Lutnick did say that he was not dealing directly with China. He said those negotiations were in the “portfolio” of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
“My portfolio is the rest of the world’s trade deals,” Lutnick said.
Lutnick’s comments come nearly a full month after “liberation day,” when President Donald Trump rolled out widespread tariff hikes on most of the world. Many of those levies have since been paused for 90 days, but the tariffs on China have been hiked to more than 100%.
The Trump administration has said that dozens of countries have reached out about making a deal in recent weeks, but no agreement has been officially announced. Japan, South Korea and India have been seen as some of the most likely candidates for deals.
When asked about Lutnick’s comments on Fox Business later Tuesday, Bessent declined to say if a deal had been reached with any country.
“I’m not going to get ahead of the president. Nothing’s done until President Trump announces it. ... So we should wait to hear from President Trump over the next couple of days,” Bessent said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
Italy?
India, probably. They seemed ready to talk turkey.
My guess is India - they see an opportunity to grab a huge chunk of manufacturing from China and Modi is smart enough to go for it. It helps that he and Trump are friendly and he has no personal reason not to pursue the deal.
INDIA......................
India would be BIIIIG!
The most populous nation on earth can set an example for others.
If Trump is America First, Modi is India first. win-win for both.
India, but I wonder about the administration’s talk of “deals”...what does a “deal” look like? Elimination of the foreign country’s tariffs in exchange for the USA eliminated their recently increased tariffs? If so, “cheap foreign labor” remains in play and US companies stay offshore.
If on-shoring US manufacturing is the goal then tariffs must remain as is/”on”, no “deals”.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/29/trump-india-trade-deal-bessent-south-korea-japan.html
You can just tell Secretary Lutnick is so very tempted to just blurt the news out right now. Resist the temptation, just to make news, Sec. Lutnick. Yes, we’re coming in for a soft landing, expertly done, but we have not yet reached the gates.
RE: INDIA....
You’re mostly likely correct.
See here:
https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/india-most-likely-sign-first-major-trade-deal-us-heres-why
[EXCERPT]
India is the nation most likely to announce the first major trade deal with the Trump admin, not only because of Apple’s decision to shift all US-focused iPhone production from China to India, but because India and China have a bit of a regional superpower rivalry between them, with the former recently surpassing the latter as the world’s most populous country (China is facing a crippling demographic crisis in several decades that would rival Japan’s), and with ambitions to overtake China’s GDP over the next 2 decades.
Case in point, Indian trade negotiators are planning to showcase the country’s large pipeline of Boeing plane orders and the potential for more to come as they seek a favorable deal with the US, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter. In the absence of a deal, Indian goods exports to the US face up to 26% levies after Trump’s 90-day pause on implementation of reciprocal tariffs ends in July.
The plan is to get Indian carriers’ existing orders and under-negotiation deals with the American planemaker counted in discussions for a bilateral trade pact that could potentially shield the country from higher US tariffs.
One? Not 200?
Yes, it's totally logical............
I knew it! Too bad FR is not a gambling website. It would be raining dollar bills over my head!
India...
Wouldn’t the U.S. Senate under its treaty-rrlsted powers also need to consider and approve the deal Lutnick is referring to?
That’s the authority Rand Paul is trying to wrest back.
If Trump can pull-off a deal with an important ally like India or Japan, it will help both nations econonically and show skeptics that the process can work.
Great guess.....
Maybe Argentina
When greeting the Vance family, Modi seemed positively grandfatherly to the children
Relations with India are going to get much better I think
Trump should seek to obtain Senate approval for all of these trade deals.
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