When President Trump talks more about making deals with other countries, it becomes harder to understand what is happening with taxes on imports. His team seems happy with this, saying that Trump is using a planned lack of clarity to help him.

Trump says the US does not need to sign agreements, but could sign many now. He wants fair deals for everyone and is not worried about other countries' markets. He says his team can negotiate, but he might decide to put tariffs in place by himself.

Chad Bown, an expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, wrote in an email, "I don't understand this very well."

Even though Trump's team uses his book "The Art of the Deal" to show he has a plan, many people are worried. This has led to stock markets going up and down, companies stopping hiring, and a lot of uncertainty, even though Trump keeps saying new factories and jobs will come.

As part of any agreement, Trump wants to keep some of his tariffs. He believes these taxes on imports can make a lot of money for the government, which has a lot of debt, even though other countries want to remove tariffs in a deal.

Recently, Trump said that tariffs are good for the country. He thinks that if the US uses them well, the country will get rich. He said that the extra money from tariffs would help pay off debt and allow for much lower taxes for people, even more than the tax cuts already planned.

So far this year, the U.S. government has collected $45.9 billion from tariffs. This is about $14.5 billion more than last year, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. This amount could increase a lot because of the normal 10% tariffs, the 145% tariff on Chinese products, and tariffs up to 25% on steel, aluminum, cars, and goods from Mexico and Canada.

For Trump to reach his goals of paying back the $36 trillion debt and lowering income taxes, his tariffs would need to collect at least $2 trillion every year. This would have to happen without harming the economy so much that the government receives less tax money overall. Doing this would be very difficult, almost impossible.

The Republican government said that 17 of the 18 main countries they trade with have given them lists of possible agreements they are ready to discuss. This is only the first step for trade talks.

But leaders from other countries have said they are not sure exactly what Trump wants or how agreements could become lasting deals. They also know Trump agreed to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 2020, but then added new taxes on goods from those same two countries this year.

During a meeting with Trump on Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the new trade agreement needs to be stronger. He said this is to prevent unfair taxes, like those put on fentanyl this year, from happening again. Canada thought these taxes were unfair.

"Some aspects of it will need to change," Carney stated.

High taxes of 145% on China and 125% on the U.S. are making the talks very difficult. The U.S. Treasury Secretary agrees that these taxes cannot continue.

The first talks between the U.S. and China will start this weekend in Switzerland. However, they will probably only try to find ways to reduce tensions so that important discussions can happen later.

The main problem is that China makes most of the world's goods and sells them to other countries. This can hurt businesses in those countries. China doesn't buy enough of its own products, so other countries buy them instead. The U.S. wants to change this trade situation. However, it has also put taxes on products from countries that could help protect their businesses from China.

"Clearly, China is the most important part of this trade situation," Bessent said this week. "What will happen with China in the end?"

A spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, Lin Jian, said that the Trump administration could help start talks by using less harsh words and removing import taxes.

Lin said on Tuesday that if the U.S. really wants to solve the problem by talking, it should stop threatening and pressuring. It should talk with China as equals, showing respect and working for both sides to benefit.

When someone asked him on Wednesday if he would lower the taxes on goods from China to negotiate, Trump said, "No."

The president also said he did not agree with the Chinese government's statement that his government wanted the talks in Geneva.

Would Congress have to agree to any agreements?

That's not necessarily the case.

Trump put taxes on imports by himself, without Congress. He used a law from 1977 to do this, which has caused several lawsuits. The government also thinks that any deals to change the tax rates would not need Congress to agree.

According to a report from April, previous presidents, like Trump with his China deal, could only make smaller agreements about specific trade and tax issues between two countries. For example, there was a 2023 agreement on important minerals and a 2020 agreement with Japan about trading digital goods.

The problem is that Trump has also included things like safety rules for cars and taxes in Europe in his discussions. He wants other countries to change these rules if the U.S. lowers its new taxes on imports. However, other countries might not agree with the U.S. government helping its own companies.

According to a report, a deal that deals with trade problems and needs changes to US law would have to be approved by both the House and the Senate.

Is it a real agreement if Trump just decides it?

If other countries don't agree with him, Trump has said he will make deals inside the country and set a tax rate for imported goods, even though he already did this. The taxes he announced caused the stock market to fall, which made him stop some new taxes for 90 days and charge a lower rate while they talk.

It looks like Trump might agree not to use the tariffs he threatened before, if he thinks other countries are giving enough. This means the U.S. doesn't lose anything because the tariffs are new. But Trump could also take away his tariffs without getting much back.

William Reinsch, an expert from a research group in Washington, said that Trump is known for asking for a lot and then changing his mind during talks. He also mentioned that countries expecting normal trade talks where both sides compromise are being rejected.