When President Trump talks about making deals with other countries, it makes the rules about taxes on goods unclear. His team says this helps him.

Trump says the US does not need to sign any deals, but could sign many now. He wants good deals for everyone and does not care about other countries' markets. He says his team can talk about a deal, or he might just add taxes on goods from other countries himself.

Chad Bown wrote in an email that he did not understand it.

Trump's team says his book shows he has a good plan, but many people are worried. This has made the stock market change a lot. Companies are not hiring new people, and everyone feels unsure. But Trump keeps saying new factories and jobs are coming soon.

Trump wants to keep some taxes on goods from other countries if they make a deal. He thinks these taxes can make a lot of money for the government. But other countries want to take away the taxes when they make a deal.

Trump recently said that putting taxes on goods from other countries is good for the USA. He said if we use these taxes, the country will get very rich. He also said this money will help pay back money the country owes and make people's taxes much lower.

This year, the U.S. government has collected $45.9 billion from taxes on goods brought into the country. This is about $14.5 billion more than last year.

To pay back the $36 trillion debt and lower taxes, Trump's tariffs would need to collect at least $2 trillion every year. This must happen without hurting the economy so much that the government gets less tax money. This would be very hard to do.

The Republican government says that 17 of the 18 countries they trade with have shown them ideas for agreements.

But leaders from other countries are not sure what Trump wants or how agreements can last. They also remember that Trump agreed to the USMCA in 2020, but then put new taxes on goods from those countries this year.

When the Canadian leader met Mr. Trump on Tuesday, he said the new agreement should be stronger. This is to stop the USA from putting taxes on Canadian goods again, like they did this year because of fentanyl. Canada thought these taxes were unfair.

Some things about it need to change, Carney said.

The high taxes on goods from China and the high taxes from China on US goods make the talks difficult.

The first talks between the U.S. and China will start this weekend in Switzerland. They will probably try to find ways to make things less tense so they can have important talks later.

The main problem is that China makes most of the world's goods, so it sells a lot to other countries.

"China is a very important part of this trade question," Bessent said this week. "What will happen with China?"

China says the US should stop saying bad things and remove import taxes to start talking again.

On Tuesday, Lin said that if the U.S. really wants to solve the problem by talking, it should stop making threats and talk with China as equals, with respect and for both sides' good.

On Wednesday, someone asked Trump if he would lower the taxes on things from China to have talks. Trump said, "No."

The president said the Chinese government was wrong. They said his government wanted to talk in Geneva, but he said that was not true. Trump said, "I think they should look at their papers again."

Does Congress need to agree to any deals?

That might not be the case.

Trump put taxes on goods from other countries without asking Congress. He used a law from 1977 to do this, and it has caused many legal problems. The government also says they can change these taxes without Congress.

Before, presidents like Trump could only make small trade deals with China, says a report.

The problem is that Trump also wants to talk about rules that are not tariffs, like safety rules for cars or taxes in Europe. He wants other countries to change these rules if the U.S. stops some of the new taxes he started. But other countries might not like that the U.S. helps its own companies with money.

The report said that both the House and the Senate would need to agree to a deal that would change some US laws.

Is it a good deal if Trump just says it is?

If other countries don't agree with him, Trump said he might make deals inside the country and add taxes on imports. He already did this in April with taxes he called "Liberation Day" tariffs. After he announced these import taxes, the money markets went down. This made him stop some new taxes for three months and use a lower tax of 10% while people talk and try to agree.

It seems Trump will agree not to add new taxes on goods from other countries if he thinks they are giving enough. This means the US doesn't lose anything because the taxes are new. But Trump might also stop the taxes without getting much back.

Trump often asks for a lot at first and then less later, so we don't know how long he will do this, said William Reinsch, an expert in Washington. He also said that countries that want a normal talk where both sides give something are being turned away.