U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, walk on the tarmac at Morristown Airport, in Morristown, New Jersey, U.S., July 6, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

WASHINGTON, July 29 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump will make his trade deal decisions this week even as separate negotiations with China and the European Union continue, U.S. Commerce chief Howard Lutnick said on Tuesday ahead of Trump’s self-imposed Aug. 1 deadline.

U.S. and EU officials were still discussing steel and aluminum tariffs as well as digital services regulations following their framework announced on Sunday, Lutnick told CNBC in an interview, adding that talks with China were also “their own thing”.

“But for the rest of the world, we’re going to have things done by Friday,” he said in the interview.

Asked about remaining uncertainties surrounding the U.S.-EU agreement, Lutnick said Trump was working “to get things done now.”

He said pharmaceuticals were a key part of the EU deal so that medicines made in European countries—home to several major drugmakers—would see their products included in the 15% tariff.

“It was important for them to have pharmaceuticals be part of the deal at 15% because President Trump is going to come out in the next two weeks with his pharmaceutical policy, and it is going to be higher,” he said.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab

Suggested Topics:

Read Next

U.S. and Chinese officials finished two days of talks in Stockholm on Tuesday that were aimed at tackling longstanding economic disputes and stepping back from an escalating trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.

ANALYSIS The most precarious job in America’s boardrooms: CEO

Site Index

About Reuters

Stay Informed

Information you can trust

Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world’s media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.

Read More