APRIL 25, 2025
Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday in Jaipur, India. – anushree fadnavis/Reuters
WASHINGTON—U.S. 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 so-called reciprocal tariffs, officials plan to use a framework prepared by the U.S. Trade Representative’s office that lays out broad categories for negotiation: tariffs and quotas; non-tariff barriers to trade, such as regulations on U.S. goods; digital trade; rules of origin for products; and economic security and other commercial issues, according to people familiar with a draft document outlining the negotiating terms.
Within those categories, U.S. 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.
“USTR is working under an organized and rigorous framework and moving ahead quickly with willing trading partners,” said a USTR spokeswoman. “President Trump and USTR have made U.S. objectives clear and our trading partners have a very good sense of what they can each individually offer.”
President Trump signed an executive order imposing tariffs on imported goods during an event earlier this month at the White House. – Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
The U.S. is looking to negotiate within the new framework with about 18 major U.S. trading partners on a rolling basis over the next two months, the people familiar with the matter said. The initial plan is for six nations to come in for talks in one week, six nations in a second week, and six nations for a third week of talks—an 18-nation cycle that would then repeat until the administration’s self-imposed July 8 deadline. At that point, reciprocal tariffs would hit nations that can’t reach a deal, unless Trump further extends his 90 day pause.
The planned negotiating timeline could slip if talks hit a snag, one of the people said. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt this week said that the administration has received 18 trade proposals on paper from trading partners that it is currently reviewing.
It wasn’t clear which nations will be entering the planned negotiations under USTR’s template, and which will have a different path for talks. Some nations, such as India, appeared further along in trade talks than most nations, with that government having agreed to broad terms of negotiation when Vice President JD Vance was in New Delhi this week.
Mexico and Canada—the U.S.’s two largest trading partners—aren’t likely to be involved in talks using the new trade template since Trump’s reciprocal tariff order didn’t apply to them. And China, the third largest U.S. trading partner, is likely on a different track as well, as Trump has singled out Beijing for much higher tariffs of at least 145%.
The Port of Los Angeles. – Eric Thayer/Bloomberg News
Trump this week said that his administration has been in touch with China “every day,” although Chinese officials have denied any substantial contact on trade. On Friday, Trump told reporters he had spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping, although he wouldn’t say when. Trump reiterated he wouldn’t unilaterally drop tariffs on Chinese imports unless he sees something “substantial” from Beijing.
For other nations, trade talks remain high-level and general, said people familiar with the discussions, and some trading partners say the U.S. has yet to transmit concrete requests for its negotiations. The European Union’s economy commissioner, for instance, told The Wall Street Journal this week that the 27-nation bloc is still awaiting specific demands from the Trump administration. The USTR spokeswoman disputed that, saying the agency has repeatedly made its framework known to the Europeans.
Meanwhile, Europe and others are trying to set their own parameters for negotiations. The EU won’t negotiate changes to its value-added tax or agricultural subsidies, Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said this week. And the United Kingdom sought to take any changes to its food or automotive safety standards off the table, saying those are decisions for its government alone.
Courtesy/Source: WSJ
