White House weighs trade proposals from 15 countries after tariff freeze

US President Donald Trump's top economic adviser has revealed that the White House has already received counter trade proposals from 15 countries amid the ongoing tariff standoff.

Kevin Hassett, who is the Director of the National Economic Council, has spoken about the international reactions to the White House's steep trade policy adjustments during an appearance on the Fox News channel on April 10, Caliber.Az reports.

While he did clarify that this "doesn’t mean there’s a final deal yet,” Hassett informed the hosts that he has "been informed by the US Trade Representative that there are concrete proposals from around 15 countries, so things are progressing quickly.”

Trump announced a 90-day pause on his reciprocal tariffs for all countries that went into effect at midnight of April 9, in order to create space for negotiations with nations that approached the administration before responding with countermeasures. China is the only exception to this break, whose import tariff rate for goods entering the US was raised to a staggering 125% after Beijing responded with a similarly harsh rate.

He noted that President Trump had already been considering such a tariff pause, but recent turbulence in the Treasury markets influenced the decision to act swiftly.

While Hassett did not disclose which countries had submitted offers, he said he and other senior advisers were scheduled to meet with the president on later during the day on April 10 to present a list of suggested priorities for upcoming trade talks.

By Nazrin Sadigova