President Trump agrees to 90-day negotiating period with Mexico in a blitz before his tariff deadline

WASHINGTON AP The tariffs planned by President Donald Trump on Friday touched off a feverish bout of activity among arrangement partners as key details remained unclear and nations didn t know the taxes their goods could face keeping an element of surprise to an event long hyped by the U S leader Just hours before the deadline Trump on Thursday noted he would enter a -day negotiating period with Mexico over commerce as tariff rates stay in place providing a bit of clarity to a massive rewiring of the global financial system that will require the president to sign a new executive order Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that his phone conversation with Mexican leader Claudia Sheinbaum was very productive in that more and more we are getting to know and understand each other The Republican president had threatened tariffs of on goods from Mexico in a July letter something that Sheinbaum stated Mexico gets to stave off for the next three months We avoided the tariff increase broadcasted for the subsequent day and we got days to build a long-term agreement through dialogue Sheinbaum wrote on X The leaders morning call came at a moment of pressure and uncertainty for the world financial market As Trump s deadline loomed nations were scrambling to finalize the outlines of bargain frameworks so he would not solely impose higher tariff rates that could upend economies and governments Trump reached a deal with South Korea on Wednesday and earlier with the European Union Japan Indonesia and the Philippines His commerce secretary Howard Lutnick declared on Fox News Channel s Hannity that there were agreements with Cambodia and Thailand after they had agreed to a ceasefire to their margin conflict White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned Trump at particular point this afternoon or later this evening will sign an order to impose new rates starting at a m EDT Friday Countries that have not received a prior letter from Trump or negotiated a framework will be notified of their likely tariff rates either by letter or executive order she revealed Among those uncertain about their deal status were wealthy Switzerland and Norway Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg commented it was wholly uncertain whether a deal would be completed before Trump s deadline But even the general announcement of a deal can offer scant reassurance for an American trading partner EU officers are waiting to complete a crucial document outlining how the framework to tax imported autos and other goods from the -member state bloc would operate Trump had released a deal Sunday while he was in Scotland The U S has made these commitments Now it s up to the U S to implement them The ball is in their court EU commission spokesman Olof Gill noted The document would not be legally binding Trump mentioned as part of the agreement with Mexico that goods imported into the U S would continue to face a tariff that he has ostensibly linked to fentanyl trafficking He declared autos would face a tariff while copper aluminum and steel would be taxed at during the negotiating period He announced Mexico would end its Non Tariff Agreement Obstructions but he didn t provide specifics A few goods continue to be protected from the tariffs by the U S -Mexico-Canada Agreement or USMCA which Trump negotiated during his first term But Trump appeared to have soured on that deal which is up for renegotiation next year One of his first essential moves as president was to tariff goods from both Mexico and Canada earlier this year U S Census Bureau figures show that the U S ran a billion bargain imbalance with Mexico last year That means the U S bought more goods from Mexico than it sold to the country The imbalance with Mexico has grown in the aftermath of the USMCA as it was only billion in the year before Trump started his first term in office Besides addressing fentanyl trafficking Trump has made it a goal to close the agreement gap