White House Says Trump’s July 9 Tariff Deadline ‘Not Critical’ Amid EU And India Deal Hopes Rising

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday revealed that the July 9 tariff deadline imposed by President Donald Trump could be extended.

Addressing reporters at the White House, Leavitt said the July 9 deadline is “not critical,” but that an extension is a decision for the President to make, according to a report by CNBC.

“The president can simply provide these countries with a deal if they refuse to make us one by the deadline,” Leavitt said, reiterating President Trump’s stance.

“And that means the president can pick a reciprocal tariff rate that he believes is advantageous for the United States and for the American worker,” she added.

Meanwhile, a team from India has reportedly arrived in the U.S. to secure an interim trade deal with the Trump administration.

A report by the Wall Street Journal also states that the European Union is considering lowering tariffs on goods imported from the U.S. to sweeten its negotiations with the Trump administration.

Earlier this month, the President kicked off the G7 summit in Canada, saying he is a “tariff person.”

While the Trump administration hunts for its second deal since the announcement of a pause on the ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs, President Trump reiterated his preference for tariffs as the other G7 members look for answers about the U.S.'s shifting trade and foreign policies.

So far, the Trump administration has only announced one deal with a close ally, the U.K. With the President’s 90-day pause set to expire in a little over two weeks, on July 9, whether another deal will be announced remains to be seen.

At the time, Trump advisor Peter Navarro said he expected the administration to strike 90 deals over the 90-day period.

In addition to the ongoing discussions with the EU, the Trump administration struck a preliminary deal with China earlier this month.

President Trump’s team said earlier this month that it is close to inking a couple of trade deals, however, no progress has been made on that front yet.

Meanwhile, U.S. equities edged up on Thursday as Wall Street digested the early release of first-quarter GDP numbers.

At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was up 0.67%, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) gained 0.77%. Stocktwits data shows retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF has been in the ‘extremely bearish’ territory over the past week.

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