Are Trump's trade deals the real deal?

The Indicator from Planet Money

NPR

Business

4.7 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 May 2025

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Top Trump advisers have been boasting about 'awesome' trade deals the administration is negotiating with other countries. But are these deals real? Today on the show, we ask a former U.S. trade negotiator whether these agreements hold up.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	NPR.
0:11.7	This is The Indicator from Planet Money.
0:13.9	I'm Whalen Wong.
0:15.0	And I'm Daryam Woods.
0:16.3	We have been hearing so much talk from officials in the Trump administration about dealmaking,
0:22.6	like from trade advisor Peter Navarro.
0:24.9	We're going to run 90 deals and 90 days.
0:28.3	Or Kevin Hassett, another economic advisor?
0:30.7	Everybody has seen awesome deals that are on the table.
0:33.5	Last week we were in the Middle East cutting trillions of dollars of deals with our Middle Eastern friends.
0:38.7	Awesome deals, trillions of dollars of deals, 90 deals in 90 days.
0:43.3	The Trump administration says the tariffs it's imposed or threatened to impose are bringing foreign governments to the negotiating table.
0:50.4	The European Union this week said it's fast-tracking trade talks of the US, and the White
0:55.7	House has already announced two deals with UK and China. So there's been a lot of celebration,
1:01.8	but what do these packs actually involve? And are they really even deals? Today on the show,
1:08.1	a former trade negotiator for the US puts these agreements to the test.
1:13.5	Really? Come on, let's go.
1:18.7	Hear that? That's the sound of my customers leaving.
1:22.4	When your broadband doesn't work, neither does your business.
1:25.8	Will Sky Business keep me up and running, no matter what?
1:29.0	With 4G backup and our stay connected guarantee, better believe it. Let our dedicated Sky Business
1:35.2	team handle your switch today. That's more like it. Subject to availability for T's and
	...

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