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 agreement 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 reported he would enter a -day negotiating period with Mexico over contract as tariff rates stay in place providing a bit of clarity to a massive rewiring of the global commercial sector 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 profitable 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 announced Mexico gets to stave off for the next three months We avoided the tariff increase reported 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 business sector As Trump s deadline loomed nations were scrambling to finalize the outlines of business frameworks so he would not only 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 commented on Fox News Channel s Hannity that there were agreements with Cambodia and Thailand after they had agreed to a ceasefire to their dividing line conflict White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Trump at various 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 commented Among those uncertain about their transaction status were wealthy Switzerland and Norway Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg announced it was utterly uncertain whether a deal would be completed before Trump s deadline But even the inhabitants announcement of a deal can offer scant reassurance for an American trading partner EU bureaucrats 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 communicated 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 stated 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 commented autos would face a tariff while copper aluminum and steel would be taxed at during the negotiating period He commented Mexico would end its Non Tariff Agreement Hindrances but he didn t provide specifics Particular 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 major 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 commerce gap