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PRESIDENT TRUMP is returning to the U.S. from Scotland ahead of a pivotal week for the economy, with reciprocal tariffs set to go into effect Friday for all countries that haven’t reached a new trade deal with the U.S.

U.S. and Chinese officials met in Stockholm on Tuesday for a third round of negotiations. The two sides appear to be close to an agreement to further a tariffs truce to allow more time to reach a new longterm deal.

“They had a very good meeting with China, they’re going to brief me tomorrow and and we’ll either approve it or not,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on his flight back to the U.S. “I think the result is probably good.”

Trump said he expects to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping by the end of the year.

During his trip to Scotland, Trump secured a landmark trade deal with the European Union (EU).

Some European officials believe the EU caved to Trump and gave him a sweetheart deal.

Democrats, meanwhile, have described the deal as smoke and mirrors.

The EU trade deal sets tariffs on European goods at 15 percent, down from Trump’s threatened 30 percent levy. As part of the deal, the EU will lower tariffs, open its markets to new U.S. products, and pledged to make hundreds of billions of investments in the U.S. in the coming years.

Democrats are seizing on anonymous quotes from EU officials, who said the investments in the U.S. come from the private sector and can’t be enforced by the government.

“Trump would have you believe it’s the biggest deal ever,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. “Europe has admitted that this agreement isn’t legally binding, and they have no control over whether these investments even happen.”

The president got a boost Tuesday, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) upgrading its economic outlook for the U.S. after determining Trump’s tariffs had proved less damaging to the world economy than expected.

Still, the IMF warned that tariffs are a net negative for global trade.

“This modest decline in trade tensions, however fragile, has contributed to the resilience of the global economy so far,” IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said at a press conference Tuesday. “This resilience is welcome, but it is also tenuous. While the trade shock could turn out to be less severe than initially feared, it is still sizeable, and evidence is mounting that it is hurting the global economy.”

WHERE THE DEALS STAND

In addition to the EU, Trump has so far announced trade deals with Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia and the United Kingdom.

The countries that have not reached a deal with the U.S. will be staring down steep tariffs Friday after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said there would no more pauses and no more extensions.

The White House sent dozens of letters earlier this month informing countries of their new rates, with Canada looking at 35 percent, Mexico at 30 percent, South Korea at 25 percent and Brazil at 50 percent.

Trump’s tariffs will face an important legal challenge Thursday, just a day before they’re slated to go into effect.

A court of appeals will hear oral arguments in a case involving small business owners suing Trump to challenge his legal authority to impose tariffs without going through Congress.

Republicans see opportunity in the tariffs, which have opened a new line of revenue to the U.S. Treasury.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced a bill to provide $600 tariff rebates to almost all Americans and their dependent children.

Hawley said in a statement that “Americans deserve a tax rebate after four years of Biden policies that have devastated families’ savings and livelihoods."

The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports: “The legislation would be modeled on the direct payments Congress authorized in the 2020 CARES Act, which provided $1,200 direct payments to adults and $500 direct payments to children.”

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© The Hill