Trump Tariff Deadline Extended? Bessent, Lutnick Now Hint At Return To ‘Liberation Day’ Duties By August

With just a couple of days to go before the July 9 deadline for the resumption of the “Liberation Day” tariffs announced by President Donald Trump, comments by White House officials suggested that there could be further relief.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, as well as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, have both implied that the looming deadline could be pushed forward, potentially offering a reprieve to nations that are yet to finalize bilateral trade deals with the U.S.

The stock market, which is trading at a record high, could savor the development. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the broader S&P 500 Index and the tech-focused Nasdaq 100 Index, have gained 7.3% and 9.3%, respectively, year-to-date.

The SPY and QQQ were among the most active tickers on Stocktwits late Sunday.

Delving into what would happen over the next couple of days, Bessent said, “I'm not going to give away the playbook because we're going to be very busy over the next 72 hours.”

“President Trump's going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners, saying that, if you don't move things along, then, on August 1, you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level. So I think we're going to see a lot of deals very quickly.”

The Treasury Secretary made the comments while speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” program on Sunday.

Bessent also said the Trump administration would send 100 letters to small countries where the country doesn’t have significant trade.

He also detailed what would happen after Aug. 1. “So countries will get a letter saying that, if we have not reached an agreement, then you will go back to the April 2 level,” he said.

However, he did not call Aug. 1 as a new deadline, as he said, “It's not a new deadline. We are saying this is when it's happening. If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that's your choice.”

According to Bessent, the Trump administration's playbook is to apply maximum pressure. He clarified that none of the nations for which the president flagged 70% tariffs were major trading partners. 

He also stated that the administration would focus on 18 key trading partners, which account for approximately 95% of the U.S. deficit.

Separately, Lutnick confirmed the Aug. 1 deadline, according to a Bloomberg report, which cited comments he made aboard Air Force One en route to Washington. 

Lutnick said, “I think we’ll have most countries done by July 9, either a letter or a deal.” The Commerce Secretary said letters with tariff increases would start going out on Monday, with a few planned for the next day. 

“We made deals also, so we’re going to have a combination of letters and some deals have been made,” he said, without specifying any country or group of trading partners such as the European Union. 

Lutnick also said, “Tariffs go into effect Aug. 1, but the president is setting the rates and the deals right now.”

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