When President Trump talks about making deals with other countries, it is hard to understand the rules about taxes on goods. His team thinks this is a good thing because Trump uses this confusing situation to help himself.

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

"It is hard for me to understand it," Chad Bown wrote in an email.

Trump's team says his book 'The Art of the Deal' proves he has a good plan. But many people around the world are worried. This has made the stock market change a lot. Companies are not hiring new people, and the future is not clear. But Trump still says new factories and jobs will appear soon.

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

Trump recently said that tariffs are good for the country. He believes that if the country uses them and it is successful, the country will become very rich. He also said that the country will be able to pay back its debts and make taxes much lower, even more than the tax cut people will already get. This is because they will get a lot of money from tariffs.

This year, the US government has collected $45.9 billion from taxes on imported goods. This is about $14.5 billion more than last year. These taxes might increase a lot because of different tax rates. For example, there is a 10% basic tax, a 145% tax on goods from China, and taxes up to 25% on steel, aluminum, cars, and goods from Mexico and Canada.

To pay back the $36 trillion debt and lower income taxes, Trump's taxes on imported goods would need to collect at least $2 trillion every year. This would be very difficult to do without hurting the economy and getting less tax money in total. This would be almost impossible.

The Republican government said that 17 of the 18 countries they trade with have given them papers with ideas for agreements. But agreeing on these ideas is just the first step for trade talks.

But leaders from other countries said they don't know exactly what Trump wants or how agreements could be made strong and last for a long time. They also remember that Trump agreed to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 2020, but then put new taxes on goods from those two countries this year.

When the Canadian leader met with Trump, he said the next agreement should be stronger. He did not want the problems with taxes on goods to happen again. Canada thought these taxes, which Trump started this year because of a drug, were not fair.

'Some things about it need to change,' Carney said.

The extra taxes on goods from China and the US make the talks difficult. The US Treasury Secretary says these taxes cannot continue.

The first talks between the U.S. and China will start this weekend in Switzerland. They will probably try to make the situation calmer so they can have important discussions later.

The main problem is that China makes most things in the world and sells them to other countries. This can hurt businesses in those countries. China does not buy much of what it makes itself, so other countries buy it. The U.S. wants to change this, but it has also put taxes on goods from countries that could help it protect their car and technology industries from China.

"China is the biggest part of this trade problem," Bessent said this week. "What will we do with China?"

China's government spokesman, Lin Jian, said that if the Trump government wants to start talks, they should speak less strongly and stop the extra taxes on goods from other countries.

On Tuesday, Lin said that if the U.S. wants to solve the problem by talking, it should stop threatening and putting pressure on others. He said the U.S. should talk to China as equals, with respect, and for everyone's good.

On Wednesday, someone asked Trump if he would lower the taxes on China to start talking. He said, "No."

The president also said the Chinese government was not telling the truth when they said his government wanted to talk in Geneva. "They should look at their papers again," Trump said.

Does Congress need to agree to any deals?

It might not always be the case.

Trump put extra taxes on goods from other countries by himself, without asking Congress. He used a law from 1977 to do this, and many people took him to court because of it. The government also said they could change these taxes later without Congress saying yes.

Before, presidents could only make small trade deals with other countries, like China and Japan. A report from this April says this.

The problem is that Trump also wants to talk about other rules, like car safety laws or taxes in Europe. He wants other countries to change their rules if the U.S. lowers the new taxes he put on goods. Other countries might not like it if the U.S. gives money to its companies.

A report said that the House and Senate would need to agree on a deal to change some laws and rules in the U.S.

Is it a good deal if Trump just agrees?

If other countries don't agree, Trump said he might make deals in the US and add a tax on goods from other countries. He did this a little in April. When he announced these taxes, the money markets went down. So, he stopped some new taxes for 90 days and used a lower 10% tax while they talked.

It looks like Trump might not add new taxes on goods if he feels other countries are giving enough. This means the U.S. doesn't lose anything. But he might also stop the taxes without getting much back.

William Reinsch said that Trump often asks for a lot at the start and then changes his mind later. He said we will see how long he continues this. He also said that countries hoping for normal trade talks where both sides give a little are not having success yet.