Time is running out for countries to reach an agreement to avoid Donald Trump's delayed tariffs.

Bill Maher is acknowledging that the doom and gloom predictions he had about the economy being negatively impacted by President Trump’s tariff plan so far haven’t panned out. “I

President Donald Trump said that India may be hit with a tariff rate of 20% to 25% but cautioned the final levy had still not been finalized as the two countries negotiate on a trade deal ahead of an Aug.

Indeed, the reciprocal tariffs in the right column are generally lower than the corresponding rates in the left column. However, the key to the ruse is that the figures in the left column are fabrications. They are faux tariff rates. Economist Soumaya Keynes with the Financial Times mocked the administration’s tariff formula:

On August 1, hundreds of countries will come to learn their fate with the United States, when President Donald Trump’s pause on “reciprocal” tariffs ends. But businesses say planning has proven near impossible after months of whipsaw trade policy.

President Trump has “leveraged American bargaining power” with three Asian nations this week — and given himself momentum ahead of the looming Aug. 1 deadline for most “reciprocal tariffs,” experts predict.

Natural resources that are not grown in the United States, including coffee and cocoa, could be exempt from import tariffs when trade deals with producing countries are reached, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Tuesday.

In the wake of those “Liberation Day” tariffs, financial markets took fright. On April 9 the Trump administration hit pause: the “reciprocal” tariffs were deferred until July 9 and replaced by an across-the-board 10% tariff increase, with a handful of exceptions.