ISTANBUL

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday that tariff talks with over a dozen trade partners could extend until Sept. 1, the US Labor Day, shifting from an earlier July 9 deadline.

Speaking to Fox News, Bessent stressed the need to secure deals with the US’ “18 important trading partners.” He added: “So, if we can ink 10 or 12 of the important 18 – there are another important 20 relationships – then I think we could have trade wrapped up by Labor Day.”

US President Donald Trump also weighed in Friday, underlining the flexibility of the original deadline.

“We can do whatever we want. We could extend it, we could make it shorter. I’d like to make it shorter. I’d like to just send letters out to everybody: ‘Congratulations, you’re paying 25 percent’,” he said.

To date the Trump administration has secured only one trade agreement, with the United Kingdom, alongside a temporary truce with China.

Bessent said negotiations with China and the UK are “behind us for now.”

He added that he expects that rare earth minerals from China will soon “flow” back into the US, following Beijing’s announcement earlier Friday approving exports of the materials.

“As President Trump has said, he’s created maximum negotiating leverage for Ambassador (Jamieson) Greer, (Commerce) Secretary Lutnick, and myself by saying if you can’t get to a deal, he’s happy to go back to the April 2 levels, so we have countries approaching us with very good deals,” Bessent said, stressing that if countries fail to reach a deal, Trump is prepared to reinstate the larger tariffs, which shook world markets when they were first announced.