Financial Times: U.S. officials seek to narrow the scope of the trade protocol, striving to reach an agreement before July 9.

On July 1, according to the Financial Times, senior trade officials of Trump are scaling back their ambitions to reach a comprehensive reciprocal agreement with foreign countries, seeking to finalize smaller agreements to avoid the re-imposition of tariffs by the United States. Four sources stated that U.S. officials are looking to establish a phased agreement with the countries that are most involved, aiming to reach an agreement before July 9. This new plan for a smaller, fragmented agreement marks a departure from the White House's commitment to negotiate 90 trade agreements during the 90-day suspension of "reciprocal" tariffs announced by the president on April 2, but it also provides an opportunity for some countries to reach moderate agreements. Insiders indicated that BRICS nations are seeking to reach a "principled agreement" on a few trade disputes before the deadline. Countries agreeing to these narrower agreements will be exempt from harsher reciprocal tariffs but will still be subject to the existing 10% base tariff, while negotiations on more contentious issues are ongoing. However, the negotiations remain complex, and the U.S. government is still considering tariffs on key industries. (Jin10)