U.S. officials seek to narrow the scope of the trade agreement, aiming to reach a deal before July 9

ChainCatcher news, senior trade officials of Trump are scaling back ambitions for comprehensive reciprocal agreements with foreign countries, seeking to reach smaller agreements to avoid the re-imposition of tariffs by the United States.

Four sources indicated that U.S. officials are looking to reach phased agreements with the most engaged countries, striving to finalize deals before July 9. This new, smaller, and fragmented agreement plan marks a departure from the White House's commitment to achieve 90 trade agreements during the 90-day suspension of comprehensive "reciprocal" tariffs announced by the president on April 2, but it also provides an opportunity for some countries to reach moderate agreements.

Informed sources stated that BRICS countries are seeking to reach "principled agreements" on a few trade disputes before the deadline. Countries agreeing to these narrower agreements will be exempt from harsher reciprocal tariffs but will still be subject to the existing 10% base tariff, while negotiations on more contentious issues are ongoing. However, the negotiations remain complex, and the U.S. government is still considering imposing tariffs on key industries.