Trump administration lays out roadmap for tariff negotiations

US officials plan to conduct staggered trade negotiations using a new template that sets common terms for many of the talks, according to people familiar with the plans. In an attempt to streamline talks over President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, officials plan to use a framework prepared by the US Trade Representative’s office.

It lays out broad categories for negotiation, including tariffs and quotas, non-tariff barriers to trade, such as regulations on US goods, digital trade, and rules of origin for products.

Within those categories, US officials would spell out demands for individual nations, people familiar with the matter said, emphasizing that the document could change as the administration gets more input.

The US is looking to negotiate within the new framework of about 18 major US trading partners on a rolling basis over the next 2 months. The plan is for 6 nations to come in for talks in the first week, 6 nations to come in the second week, and 6 the third week.

This 18-nation cycle would repeat until the Trump administration’s self-imposed July 8 deadline, at which point, reciprocal tariffs would hit the nations that couldn’t reach a deal with the United States.

China is likely to not be part of this negotiation situation, as Trump has hit China with much higher tariffs than most other nations. President Trump did say that his administration is in touch with China “every day.”

While he has shown that he is open to cutting tariffs on China, the President on Friday indicated that he wouldn’t unilaterally drop tariffs on Chinese imports unless he sees something “substantial” from Beijing.