'Bessent Faces Perilous Path on Trade Talks: "90 Days Is Going to Be Too Short"'
Completing a substantial amount of expansive and accelerated trade negotiations is a rare occurrence.
TroibNews 
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has emerged as a key figure in the White House regarding President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy. He is now tasked with delivering on trade deals.
This former hedge fund manager will spearhead negotiations with more than 75 governments to prevent economically disruptive tariffs, most of which are currently paused for a three-month period. President Trump will be closely monitoring his efforts. Bessent's Wall Street allies and Republican lawmakers who are skeptical of tariffs are counting on him to instill certainty in the financial markets.
Trump stated on Thursday that he could “make every deal in one day,” but there is little precedent for completing trade negotiations that are both broad and expedited. Historically, trade deals have often taken years to finalize.
The president’s ambition to comprehensively reshape the trading relationships with individual countries is a formidable challenge. If the U.S. begins to demand substantial changes beyond mere tariff reductions—like loosening food standards to facilitate agricultural trade or abolishing value-added taxes—these discussions could quickly become complicated.
“If he goes down that road then 90 days is going to be too short and they’re going to have these negotiations not ending happily,” said William Reinsch, a former senior U.S. trade official and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Bessent has provided few public insights into the administration's approach, other than his commitment to establish a “process” in collaboration with the Commerce Department and U.S. Trade Representative. He mentioned that countries, such as Japan, that reached out to the Trump administration promptly will be prioritized. Furthermore, he indicated that the U.S. can “probably reach a deal with our allies” before “approaching China as a group.” Other officials, including National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, noted that there are “offers on the table” from more than 15 countries.
However, officials from the Trump administration have only vaguely outlined their overarching objectives: to eliminate trade barriers, encompassing both tariffs and regulations, while reversing the U.S. trade deficit. Bessent noted that the administration aims to create “bespoke” trade deals for each nation. Convincing foreign governments to reconsider policies that are significant to their political bases has historically been a slow and compromise-driven process for past administrations from both parties.
"It depends on what they mean by ‘negotiate. ’ It depends on what they mean by ‘agreement,’” stated Ed Gresser, vice president at the Progressive Policy Institute and a former trade official who served under the Obama and first Trump administrations. “Are they looking to lower tariffs? Trade barriers? Digital barriers? They'd have to decide what it is they're trying to do first."
Dan Mullaney, a well-regarded former assistant U.S. trade representative across multiple administrations, said that negotiating with 75 countries would be a “daunting” task, but he believes the Trump administration could potentially outline agreements in principle or frameworks for trade agreements "pretty quickly."
“It’s an ambitious timeline,” Mullaney acknowledged, but with proper prioritization and sequencing, “it could be doable.” He added, “It's easy and sometimes fun to have the view that ‘oh, this is crazy, they’ll never be able to do it.’ But the people in government doing trade have been doing it for a long time, and they know how to organize themselves.”
As Bessent navigates these challenges, he faces pressure from financial markets in search of predictability. Even with a 90-day postponement in tariffs, the average U.S. tariff rate is around 27 percent—the highest since 1903—and Trump has initiated a trade war with China, imposing a 145 percent tariff on Chinese goods.
Expectations are high that the Treasury chief will quickly demonstrate what a successful deal might entail.
“Just as another way of bringing confidence to the marketplace, Secretary Bessent needs to show us what exactly a template deal would look like, and do it relatively quickly,” said Neil Dutta, head of economic research at Renaissance Macro Research, highlighting the lack of a clear model for the current situation. He stressed that “there are so many angles to this that people just don’t have a template; we don’t have an instruction manual for this. It’s very challenging.”
“Any trade war, you can agree with it or not. But nobody wins. There’s going to be pain,” Dutta added, emphasizing that Bessent is uniquely positioned to “prosecute the trade war most effectively to minimize the blowback on the American public.”
Bessent was an outspoken supporter of Trump’s populist trade agenda during the campaign; however, the Treasury Department had not played a significant role in tariffs during the early months of the Trump administration. Traditionally, trade policy has been overseen by the Commerce Department and USTR.
While there is a small Treasury office focused on negotiating the financial components of trade agreements, USTR has typically led trade negotiations. Currently, the agency, which operates within the Executive Office of the President, and its leader, Jamieson Greer, appear to be functioning in a supporting capacity to the Treasury secretary. This marks a departure from Trump’s first term, during which his former and influential trade chief, Robert Lighthizer, managed all aspects of the administration’s trade policy.
Bessent’s rise as a crucial player in trade negotiations has materialized amid recent turbulence in the financial markets following Trump’s tariff plan. He has distanced himself from the controversial rollout of the April 2 tariff strategy, asserting in a television interview that he wasn’t involved in the widely criticized formula used to establish tariff rates.
“I had obviously been providing advice on the tariffs, working more on the tax bill,” Bessent told a gathering of bank executives on Wednesday. “And now I'm going to take a lead negotiating role in a lot of the tariffs.”
He emphasized that Trump has created “maximum negotiating leverage for himself” through his tariff strategy in recent weeks. Bessent also assured that Trump will engage personally in the negotiations.
As Wall Street begins to view Bessent as a “crisis manager,” there has been a warm reception to his growing influence over the administration’s tariff strategies in recent days.
Bessent is “doing the best that he can do with the situation that we have,” stated Jim Bianco, head of the financial analysis firm Bianco Research. “I think everybody's turning to him to hopefully get through this.”
Ian Smith for TROIB News
This former hedge fund manager will spearhead negotiations with more than 75 governments to prevent economically disruptive tariffs, most of which are currently paused for a three-month period. President Trump will be closely monitoring his efforts. Bessent's Wall Street allies and Republican lawmakers who are skeptical of tariffs are counting on him to instill certainty in the financial markets.
Trump stated on Thursday that he could “make every deal in one day,” but there is little precedent for completing trade negotiations that are both broad and expedited. Historically, trade deals have often taken years to finalize.
The president’s ambition to comprehensively reshape the trading relationships with individual countries is a formidable challenge. If the U.S. begins to demand substantial changes beyond mere tariff reductions—like loosening food standards to facilitate agricultural trade or abolishing value-added taxes—these discussions could quickly become complicated.
“If he goes down that road then 90 days is going to be too short and they’re going to have these negotiations not ending happily,” said William Reinsch, a former senior U.S. trade official and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Bessent has provided few public insights into the administration's approach, other than his commitment to establish a “process” in collaboration with the Commerce Department and U.S. Trade Representative. He mentioned that countries, such as Japan, that reached out to the Trump administration promptly will be prioritized. Furthermore, he indicated that the U.S. can “probably reach a deal with our allies” before “approaching China as a group.” Other officials, including National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, noted that there are “offers on the table” from more than 15 countries.
However, officials from the Trump administration have only vaguely outlined their overarching objectives: to eliminate trade barriers, encompassing both tariffs and regulations, while reversing the U.S. trade deficit. Bessent noted that the administration aims to create “bespoke” trade deals for each nation. Convincing foreign governments to reconsider policies that are significant to their political bases has historically been a slow and compromise-driven process for past administrations from both parties.
"It depends on what they mean by ‘negotiate. ’ It depends on what they mean by ‘agreement,’” stated Ed Gresser, vice president at the Progressive Policy Institute and a former trade official who served under the Obama and first Trump administrations. “Are they looking to lower tariffs? Trade barriers? Digital barriers? They'd have to decide what it is they're trying to do first."
Dan Mullaney, a well-regarded former assistant U.S. trade representative across multiple administrations, said that negotiating with 75 countries would be a “daunting” task, but he believes the Trump administration could potentially outline agreements in principle or frameworks for trade agreements "pretty quickly."
“It’s an ambitious timeline,” Mullaney acknowledged, but with proper prioritization and sequencing, “it could be doable.” He added, “It's easy and sometimes fun to have the view that ‘oh, this is crazy, they’ll never be able to do it.’ But the people in government doing trade have been doing it for a long time, and they know how to organize themselves.”
As Bessent navigates these challenges, he faces pressure from financial markets in search of predictability. Even with a 90-day postponement in tariffs, the average U.S. tariff rate is around 27 percent—the highest since 1903—and Trump has initiated a trade war with China, imposing a 145 percent tariff on Chinese goods.
Expectations are high that the Treasury chief will quickly demonstrate what a successful deal might entail.
“Just as another way of bringing confidence to the marketplace, Secretary Bessent needs to show us what exactly a template deal would look like, and do it relatively quickly,” said Neil Dutta, head of economic research at Renaissance Macro Research, highlighting the lack of a clear model for the current situation. He stressed that “there are so many angles to this that people just don’t have a template; we don’t have an instruction manual for this. It’s very challenging.”
“Any trade war, you can agree with it or not. But nobody wins. There’s going to be pain,” Dutta added, emphasizing that Bessent is uniquely positioned to “prosecute the trade war most effectively to minimize the blowback on the American public.”
Bessent was an outspoken supporter of Trump’s populist trade agenda during the campaign; however, the Treasury Department had not played a significant role in tariffs during the early months of the Trump administration. Traditionally, trade policy has been overseen by the Commerce Department and USTR.
While there is a small Treasury office focused on negotiating the financial components of trade agreements, USTR has typically led trade negotiations. Currently, the agency, which operates within the Executive Office of the President, and its leader, Jamieson Greer, appear to be functioning in a supporting capacity to the Treasury secretary. This marks a departure from Trump’s first term, during which his former and influential trade chief, Robert Lighthizer, managed all aspects of the administration’s trade policy.
Bessent’s rise as a crucial player in trade negotiations has materialized amid recent turbulence in the financial markets following Trump’s tariff plan. He has distanced himself from the controversial rollout of the April 2 tariff strategy, asserting in a television interview that he wasn’t involved in the widely criticized formula used to establish tariff rates.
“I had obviously been providing advice on the tariffs, working more on the tax bill,” Bessent told a gathering of bank executives on Wednesday. “And now I'm going to take a lead negotiating role in a lot of the tariffs.”
He emphasized that Trump has created “maximum negotiating leverage for himself” through his tariff strategy in recent weeks. Bessent also assured that Trump will engage personally in the negotiations.
As Wall Street begins to view Bessent as a “crisis manager,” there has been a warm reception to his growing influence over the administration’s tariff strategies in recent days.
Bessent is “doing the best that he can do with the situation that we have,” stated Jim Bianco, head of the financial analysis firm Bianco Research. “I think everybody's turning to him to hopefully get through this.”
Ian Smith for TROIB News
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