Trump Admin Could Finalize Some Trade Deals Within Weeks, US Not in Talks With China: Greer

The administration is hoping to move forward with trade deals as fast as it can, the U.S. trade representative said.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer testifies on Capitol Hill on April 8, 2025. Kevin Mohatt/Reuters

The Trump administration expects to finalize initial tariff deals with some trading partners “within weeks,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on April 30, adding that no official talks have been held with China so far.

Greer told Fox News that the administration is focused on a “targeted mission” of achieving reciprocal trade, reducing the $1.2 trillion trade deficit, increasing market access, reducing tariffs and nontariff trade barriers, and enhancing economic security.

Having a focused approach means the administration will likely conclude the tariff deals in a much shorter time than usual, Greer said.

“I would say that we have deals that are ... close,” Greer stated. “As the negotiator, I don’t like to negotiate in public, but I will say we’re talking about a matter of weeks and not months, to have some initial deals announced.”

Greer said the government has been in regular contact with Vietnam in recent weeks to try to hash out a deal. He will also be meeting with representatives from Japan, Guyana, and Saudi Arabia on May 1 and the Philippines on May 2, he said.

Greer said he is also working closely with officials from South Korea, whom he described as “very forward-leaning” and moving “in the right direction,” as well as the United Kingdom.

Negotiations with India are also ongoing but are not yet “finish-line close,” he stated.

“We’re taking anyone who’s ready to move forward, and we’re moving as quickly as we can,” he said.

Greer, who said he held a call on April 2 with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng to announce reciprocal tariffs, noted that no official talks have been held with China.

He said the Trump administration is seeking fair trade with China and denied that its economic policies are designed to put pressure on Beijing and force it to the table.

“Instead of having an economy that’s financed by the government, we want to make real stuff and sell it, and it means we have to deal with foreign trade practices that are harmful, including in China,” Greer said.

President Donald Trump has said that he had potential trade deals lined up with India, South Korea, and Japan but that he was in no rush to finalize them because the United States is reaping the benefits of tariffs imposed earlier this year.

“I’m in less of a hurry than you are,” he said at a town hall on the NewsNation television network. “We are sitting on the catbird seat. They want us. We don’t need them.”

The Treasury Department reported on April 24 that because of the administration’s tariffs, the government collected $15.9 billion in fees, a 105 percent increase from a year prior.

As concerns about the economy abound, data published on April 30 by the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed that the U.S. economy contracted for the first time in three years in the first quarter, declining by 0.3 percent and reversing a 2.4 percent gain in the previous quarter.

When asked about the data and concerns that the tariffs will further hurt consumers amid an already slowing economy, Greer told Fox that core gross domestic product, which he said is “really about fundamental demand, consumer spending, and business spending,” grew at a “healthy” 3 percent.

Gross domestic investment, or “business investment,” as Greer referred to it, also soared by 22 percent.

“When I think of tariffs, I think we’re creating a situation to create incentives to make here, and not overseas,” Greer said.