What’s in those trade ‘proposals on paper’ countries have sent the White House? Depends who you ask.

White House officials have boasted that more than a dozen countries have put offers “on the table” to avoid the biting tariffs scheduled to kick in in just over two months — a sign President Donald Trump’s risky trade gambit is paying off.

But the documents other countries have submitted to the White House are far from final offers, according to a dozen foreign diplomats and three officials, granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive conversations. Rather, they are preliminary outlines of what their governments are willing to discuss in the trade talks, something the Trump administration has made a prerequisite for pursuing any further negotiations.

Some trading partners are balking at proposing even an outline of their terms before they get more guidance from the U.S. side on what Trump is seeking from the talks.