Stephan Miran: Some Countries Could See Tariffs Delayed

Countries that are working to negotiate with the United States in good faith could see their tariffs delayed, according to Stephen Miran, chair of the White House Economic Advisers, but he declined to say what deals are underway as President Donald Trump's deadline on trade deals nears. 

“I'm still optimistic that we're going to get a number of deals later this week. Part of that is because all the negotiating goes through a series of steps that lead to a culmination timed with the deadline," Miran told ABC News' "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos Sunday. 

There have been three deals so far, but when pressed on whether Trump would extend the deadline, Miran said that he expects that for "countries that are negotiating in good faith and making the concessions that they need to get to a deal, but the deal is just not there yet because it needs more time. My expectation will be that those countries get a roll, you know, sort of get the date rolled."

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that tariffs will revert to their April rates on Aug. 1, several weeks after the Trump administration's initial deadline of July 9, reported Politico.

"For the countries that aren't making concessions, for the countries that aren't negotiating in good faith, I would expect them to sort of see higher tariffs," Miran told Stephanopoulos. "But again, the president will decide later this week and in the time following whether or not the countries are doing what it takes to get access to the American market like they've grown accustomed to."

Miran also discussed on Sunday the Congressional Budget Office's estimates on Trump's megabill, signed into law on Friday. 

When asked why the CBO shouldn't be believed when it said that more than 11 million people will lose their healthcare coverage because of Medicaid cuts, Miran responded that "they've been wrong in the past."

"When Republicans repealed the individual mandate penalty during the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in the president's first term, CBO predicted that there were going to be about 5 million people losing their insurance by 2019. And you know what? The number was not very significantly changed at all," said Miran. "It was a tiny fraction of that. And so, they've been wrong in the past."

Further, he argued that if the bill wasn't passed, "8 to 9 million people would have lost their insurance for sure as a result of the biggest tax act in history, creating a huge recession."

"The best way to make sure people are insured is to grow the economy, get them jobs, get them working, get them insurance through their employer," Miran added. "Creating jobs, creating a booming economy is always the best way to get people insured."

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