Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent assured that the administration is more focused on “high-quality deals” for tariffs than reaching a deadline.

President Donald Trump’s deadline for tariffs has been postponed twice. The current deadline is Aug. 1, but Bessent appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box Monday to assure the deadline is not the most important part of the deal.

“Talks are moving along. But the important thing here is the quality of the deal, not the timing of the deals,” Bessent said. “And we are more concerned with high-quality deals than getting these deals done.”

“By Aug. 1, our trading partners were told that the rates could boomerang back toward the April 2 levels. We can continue talking then,” Bessent said. “But, you know, again, we’re proceeding at pace with the negotiations, but we’re not going to rush for the sake of doing deals.”

Brazil has the highest tariff rate, jumping from a 10% rate in April to a 50% tariff rate starting on Aug. 1. 

Additionally, the Philippines saw its rate increase from 17% to 20% since “Liberation Day.” Japan, Brunei, and Malaysia initially faced a 24% tariff, but since then, each ticked up to 25%, according to letters Trump sent on July 12.

Mexico and Canada started earlier this year with a 25% proposed tariff on imported goods, but Trump has said he wants a 30% tariff on Mexico and 35% on Canada. The rest of the 25 countries that received letters saw decreases to their proposed tariffs.

Bessent also echoed Trump in denying a report about his recommendation that Trump not fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. According to the treasury secretary, the leaker behind the allegations only had “partial information.”

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“President Trump solicits a whole range of opinions and then makes a decision. So he takes a lot of inputs,” Bessent said. “​​And at the end of the day, it’s his decision.”

Trump blasted the original publisher of the allegations, the Wall Street Journal, on Truth Social for publishing another “typically untruthful story.”