- Following President Trump’s tariff announcement, the administration claimed a surge of interest from world leaders eager to make trade deals. But nearly two weeks later no agreements have been signed, and pressure is mounting to finalize at least one. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is now promoting a “first mover advantage” to encourage swift negotiations, though global uncertainty and resistance to rushed decisions have left key allies hesitant to commit.
In the days after President Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement, members of his administration said phones had been ringing off the hook as world leaders lined up to cut new deals.
But the rhetoric out of Trump’s cabinet has begun to change since Trump put a 90-day pause on the “reciprocal” tariffs on April 9, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent now drumming up pressure to push at least a single agreement through.
Nearly two weeks have passed since the ‘Liberation Day’ announcement and more than 75 countries have reportedly contacted the White House to come to new terms.
Foreign leaders have made it clear they want to negotiate with Uncle Sam, with the EU going as far as saying it wants zero trade barriers between the nations.
Trade negotiations are no small undertaking, with billions of dollars of goods and services on the line and potential regulatory changes also an option. But while the Trump administration made it clear it wants to act quickly, not a single deal is yet to be signed even with Canada and Mexico, who were first subjected to tariff threats back in January.
‘First mover’ advantage
Speaking to Bloomberg yesterday, Bessent began selling the advantage of being the “first mover”—the country which is quickest to agree to a deal with the Oval Office in order to avoid paying higher duties on its exports to the U.S.
Bessent said there would be an “advantage” to allies who moved quickly, adding: “Especially a first mover advantage—usually the first person who makes a deal makes the best deal.”
When pressed on which country that might be, Bessent added: “It’s their choice.”
Bessent’s comments come as Japan’s prime minister Shigeru Ishib said he was in no rush to agree to a deal with the U.S. as trade negotiations kick off in-person in Washington D.C. this week—perhaps not the reaction Trump was looking for when he imposed a 24% “reciprocal” hike on the country on April 2.
“We may fail if we rush, and I don’t think it’s good to compromise a lot in order to just get the negotiations done,” Ishiba said in parliament yesterday.
But Bessent was adamant that before President Trump’s 90-day pause was up, the administration would have a handful of agreements in the bag in order to prevent trade allies from facing the higher rate.
“There could be numerous countries, and it may not be the actual trade document but we will have an agreement in principle and be able to move forward from there,” he added.
When asked if the public could expect a handful of deals, or trade agreements with the majority of countries, Bessent added: “It’s going to depend, but we’re going to move with all deliberate speed and again, it’s going to be a process.”
While at times the Trump team has shrugged off its need for deals with foreign nations, Bessent has shown his hand in why he wants deals: So that he can create a united front against China.
This ‘grand encirclement’ strategy would see the U.S. strike deals with Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and India in order to apply pressure on China—the only nation which has responded with equally aggressive reciprocal tariffs.
“[Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and India have] been good military allies, not perfect economic allies,” Bessent said last week per Bloomberg. “Then we can approach China as a group.”
First mover resistance
It’s worth noting that Bessent’s ‘first mover advantage’ theory usually applies to businesses launching or reacting within a certain industry, not an entire nation negotiating with the world’s largest economy.
But even then, research into the first mover theory could suggest why countries are resistant to be the quickest to sign a deal. Writing on a microeconomic scale of business and first mover advantage, Fernando F. Suarez and Gianvito Lanzolla wrote in the Harvard Business Review in 2005 that the benefits of reacting quickest lessens in a more uncertain environment.
And this is precisely the economic landscape that nations are operating in at the moment, with the likes of JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon saying that uncertainty is having a damaging impact on markets.
Likewise, while businesses have said they cannot change their long-term investment decisions based on potentially short-term tariff policy out of the White House, foreign leaders will also be looking to ensure the best outcome for their people for coming generations as opposed to appeasing the Trump administration for the rest of its term.
Even U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer—a key military and economic ally—said he would not sign a deal out of haste, and only if it benefited the British people.
“I will only strike a deal if it’s in the national interest,” he said last week. “That’s my priority—strength abroad, security and renewal at home.”
This is at odds with the outlook of the Trump cabinet, Professor Joao Gomes a macroeconomist at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, previously told Fortune: “My sense is this administration, this president has an enormous belief that ultimately everybody wants to do business in America.
“So ‘We’re the greatest country in the world, we have the greatest … institutions, markets, people, whatever. It doesn’t matter what we do, talented people want to come here, businesses want to come here.
“I think that belief is core…but there’s a limit to everything.”
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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