President Trump's team is no longer aiming for big trade deals with many countries

President Trump on Tuesday reiterated his intent to stick to the self-imposed July 9 deadline for finalizing trade deals, signaling he may move forward with reinstating aggressive "Liberation Day" tariffs rather than extending the current pause.

"I'm not thinking about the pause," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, according to Bloomberg. "I'll be writing letters to a lot of countries."

His remarks followed a Financial Times report indicating the administration is now focused on striking a series of smaller, fast-track trade agreements instead of pursuing sweeping deals with multiple countries. The shift in strategy aims to wrap up talks before July 9, when Trump has said the full slate of tariffs would return.

These smaller deals may allow countries to sidestep some of the harshest duties, but they would still face existing tariffs during negotiations. The president has also continued to float new levies targeting key sectors such as automobiles, steel, and aluminum — and has reserved especially tough rhetoric for Japan.

Trump said his administration would unilaterally impose steeper tariffs on Japanese goods if a deal isn’t reached: "30%, 35%, or whatever the number is that we determine," he said — a rate higher than the 24% "Liberation Day" duty and well above the 10% currently in place.

“I’m not sure we’re going to make a deal,” Trump added. “I doubt it with Japan. They’re very tough. You have to understand, they’re very spoiled.”

While administration officials have given mixed messages about the flexibility of the July 9 deadline, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned Monday that countries resistant to U.S. terms — labeled “recalcitrant” — would face the full brunt of revived tariffs.