When President Trump talks about trade deals, it's hard to know what will happen with taxes on goods. His team says this makes it hard for other countries, and that helps the US.

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

It is hard for me to understand this, wrote Chad Bown, who works at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, in an email.

Trump's team says his book "The Art of the Deal" shows he has a good plan. But many people around the world are worried. This has made the stock market unstable. Companies are not hiring new people. There is a lot of doubt about the future. Trump still says new factories and jobs will come soon.

Trump wants to keep some taxes on goods from other countries in a deal. He thinks these taxes can make a lot of money for the government because it owes a lot of money. But other countries want to make a deal so they don't have to pay these taxes anymore.

Trump recently said that taxes on goods from other countries are good for the country. He said that if the country uses these taxes, it will become rich. He also said that the extra money from these taxes will help pay off debt and make people's taxes lower.

This year, the US government got $45.9 billion from taxes on things brought into the country. This is $14.5 billion more than last year. This amount of money could go up a lot because of the different tax rates. For example, the usual tax is 10%, but it is 145% on things from China. There are also high taxes on steel, aluminum, cars, and things from Mexico and Canada.

To pay back the $36 trillion debt and lower taxes, Trump's taxes on imports would need to collect $2 trillion every year. This must happen without harming the economy and causing the government to get less money from taxes. This would be very difficult to achieve.

The Republican government says 17 of the 18 countries it trades with have given them lists of things they can agree on. This is only the first step for trade talks.

But leaders from other countries have said they don't know exactly what Trump wants or how agreements could become lasting deals. They also know Trump approved the trade deal with Mexico and Canada 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 new agreement should be stronger. This is to stop taxes like the ones Trump put on Canadian goods this year because of drugs.

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

The extra taxes on goods from China and the U.S. are making 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 reduce problems 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 sells a lot because people in China don't buy enough of what they make. The U.S. wants to change this, but it has also put taxes on things from countries that could be friends and help protect their businesses, like car and tech companies, from China.

"China is a very important part of this trade problem," Bessent said this week. "What will we do about China?"

China said the US should stop using strong words and remove taxes to help start talks again.

On Tuesday, Lin said that if the U.S. wants to solve the problem by talking, they should stop threatening and pressuring. They should talk to China as equals, with respect, and in a way that helps both countries.

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

The president said the Chinese government was wrong. He said he did not ask for the talks in Geneva.

Does Congress need to agree to any deals?

It's not always the case that it's true.

Trump put taxes on goods from other countries by himself, without Congress. He used a law from 1977 to do this, which has caused many legal problems. The government also says they don't need Congress to agree to change these taxes.

Before now, presidents like Trump made small deals with countries like China. These deals were about trade and taxes on goods, according to a report from April. For example, there was a deal in 2023 about important minerals and a deal in 2020 about online trade with Japan.

But the problem is that Trump also wants to talk about things like safety rules for cars and taxes in Europe. He wants other countries to change these rules and taxes if the U.S. lowers its new tariffs. Other countries might not like that the U.S. gives money to its own companies.

A report said that the House and Senate would need to agree to finish a deal about trade rules and changing US law.

Is it a good deal if Trump just agrees?

Trump said he might make deals in the US and add taxes on goods from other countries if they don't agree with him. He did this before. When he announced these taxes, the stock market went down. So, he stopped some taxes for 90 days and set a lower tax of 10% while they talked.

It looks like Trump will not use the new taxes on goods if other countries give enough. But he might also stop the taxes without getting much back.

Trump often asks for a lot and then changes his mind during talks, so we will see what he does, said William Reinsch. But now it seems that countries who want a normal trade talk where both sides give something are not successful.