Trump aims for trade deals with key partners in Asia in coming weeks: sources

Remember those simpler times when markets were focused on tariffs instead of war?Well, with the markets starting to look past the 12-day flareup between Israel and Iran, and our involvement in (hopefully) decapitating Tehran’s nuclear efforts, tariffs might soon be back on the table for another round of market-induced ruction, On The Money has learned.Team Trump says it’s close to announcing a handful of trade deals, my Wall Street sources with contacts in the White House tell me.I know we’ve heard this before without much real progress, but the big ones that the White House says they’re making headway on involve Japan, as well as South Korea and Vietnam, these people say.India was thought to be a done deal, but its armed conflict, however brief, with Pakistan threw off the talks with US trade negotiators.

That deal could re-emerge but it’s not on the list of those that are pending, the sources say.“They’re supposed to be coming up in the next few weeks,” is how one of my Wall Street sources described the current situation.“India seems to be moving a bit slower.

But deals are supposedly coming.”July 9 is a key date.It’s when Trump’s tariff pause against most trading partners ends.

China’s tariff pause ends Aug.12.

In the meantime, we could get some more extensions or rushed frameworks, my Wall Street sources suggest.The Japan deal appears most promising since the Trump administration just approved the takeover of US Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel, with the proviso that the White House hold what’s known as a “golden share,” a special category of stock in the new company that gives the US some authority over decision-making.Yes, a little bit of socialism from the alleged free market types in the White House, but it’s suggesting a broader trade deal with the Japanese is in the works, my sources say.The impetus behind a deal with Vietnam is that it could be a place where US businesses set up if they leave China, one of our major t...