Washington:US President Donald Trump has teased a “very, very big announcement” on Thursday. According to the American commander-in-chief, his upcoming announcement is a “major trade deal” with a “big, highly respected country”. Trump’s announcement teaser came days before representatives of the US and China are set to meet in Switzerland this weekend for talks that could be the first step toward resolving a trade war disrupting the global economy.
“Big News Conference tomorrow morning at 10:00 A.M., The Oval Office, concerning a MAJOR TRADE DEAL WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF A BIG, AND HIGHLY RESPECTED, COUNTRY. THE FIRST OF MANY!!!” the US President wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The conference teaser came a day after Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday that he will be making a “very very big announcement”, which is “very positive…It’ll be one of the most important announcements that have been made in many years about a certain subject, a very important subject.”
Trump long championed himself as the “dealmaker-in-chief” and has disrupted the global trade market by slapping tariffs on a raft of countries to strong-arm them into signing trade agreements with the US. So far, Trump has not named any country involved in the announcement on Thursday, but the US administration has previously said trade pacts with India, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Japan were close to finalising first.
The announcement is also coming days before US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and chief trade negotiator Jamieson Greer will meet China’s economic tsar He Lifeng, in Geneva this weekend for trade deal talks. The talks come after weeks of escalating tensions that have seen duties on goods imports between the world’s two largest economies soar well beyond 100 per cent, amounting to what Bessent on Tuesday described as the equivalent of a trade embargo.
The impasse, alongside Trump’s decision last month to slap sweeping duties on dozens of other countries, has upended supply chains, roiled financial markets and stoked fears of a sharp downturn in global growth. The negotiating teams convening in Switzerland, known for its neutrality, are expected to discuss reductions to the broader tariffs, two sources familiar with the planning told news agency Reuters.
The talks should also cover duties on specific products, export controls and Trump’s decision to end de minimis exemptions on low-value imports, one of the sources added.