#TrumpTariffs Trump will determine trade tariff rates over the next two weeks
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he will send messages to major economies to set the planned trade tariffs in the coming weeks, ahead of the July 9 deadline to finalize trade agreements with his administration.
"At a certain stage, we will send messages saying 'this is the deal', you can accept it or reject it," Trump told reporters at the Kennedy Center.
"We will send messages in a week and a half to two weeks to inform them of what the deal is."
Trump said that talks are ongoing with Japan, South Korea, and about 15 other countries.
It was unclear whether Trump would enforce his deadline for tariffs, as the president has set trade deadlines of two to three weeks in the past, which either passed without action or with further extensions.
And when asked if he was willing to extend his deadline of July 9 for trade talks, Trump said, "I will do that, but I don't think we will have to."
The tariffs announced by Trump, referred to as "Liberation Day", are set to take effect in early July, after the president initially revealed them in April but announced a 90-day extension for trade talks. The president threatened to impose high tariffs on the United States' key trading partners unless they agreed to a trade deal with the country.
So far, the Trump administration has only signed a trade agreement with the United Kingdom and recently formed a trade framework with China.
Trump claimed on Wednesday that the trade agreement with China "is done", and that the United States secured supplies of rare earth elements from the country. However, no further details about the agreement were provided.