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Bessent: 'We'll See' on EU Deal, More Agreements Before July 9

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with CNBC on July 3 that the Vietnam deal is "finalized in principle" and that 20% will replace the current 10% reciprocal tariff. As for which goods will be subject to 40% tariffs, Bessent didn't add any clarity. "A huge amount of the trade that comes from Vietnam is what’s called transshipment from China," he said. "We’ll see what happens with the transshipment."

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CNBC host Sara Eisen pointed out that many shoe manufacturers moved from China to Vietnam in response to the Section 301 tariffs and asked how they could adjust to a 20% tariff.

"The businesses have already adjusted to a 10% tariff, so we’ll see what happens with the additional 10[%]," Bessent said. "So far we haven’t seen any inflation from tariffs."

Eisen responded that "it has to come from somewhere," asking if Bessent expects retailers, who import lots of apparel and footwear, to have lower profits after the tariffs go up.

Bessent replied, "Why couldn’t it come from the producers in Vietnam?" He asked if they wouldn't agree to lower prices to maintain market share. Apparel companies' "margins became abnormally high during COVID. Maybe one thought is we’ll see a normalization there," he added.

Bessent said there would be more deals announced by July 9, adding, "Of course everyone waits till the last minute. They think that they can get the best deal."

When asked whether countries could expect to continue with 10% tariffs if they're negotiating in good faith, rather than returning to April rates, he replied, "We’re going to do what the president wants, and he’ll be the one to determine whether they’re negotiating in good faith. I’m not going to give people a 10% extension on national TV when they should try to get it across the finish line."

Bessent said he spoke with his EU counterpart the same morning. "We’ll see what we can do with the European Union." He also suggested that Japan is constrained in being able to make concessions since they have a parliamentary election July 20.