Scott Bessent says reciprocal tariffs bring ‘barriers down’ between trade partners
Trump will implement reciprocal tariffs if he needs to: Treasury secretary Scott Bessent
Less than one day after President Donald Trump signed off on a reciprocal tariff plan, the administration’s Treasury secretary shut down any economic concerns around the state of global trade.
“President Trump is serious about negotiating this. And look, I don’t understand why there’s any pushback on this, that if they want to bring all these barriers down, then we will have more frictionless global trade,” Scott Bessent said Friday in an exclusive interview on “Mornings with Maria.”
“As we’ve learned with President Trump, you should take him at his word. This is not theater,” he continued. “The April 1 deadline is for a study that the Commerce Department is doing on global tariffs that apply to U.S. products country by country.”
On Thursday, Trump announced a plan for the U.S. to look at implementing “reciprocal” tariffs against countries that tax or limit markets for American goods. Trump said he did not expect any exemptions or waivers for the plan, which could apply to both adversaries and allies.
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Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick and the U.S. trade representative would then submit a report detailing the tariffs on a country-by-country basis, a White House official said, previewing the announcement. The studies will be completed by April 1.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent discussed global trade and Trump’s tariff plans on “Mornings with Maria” on Friday. (Getty Images)
The official added that Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought would then have 180 days to produce a report assessing any financial impacts.
This comes just days after the Trump administration announced 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and a 10% across-the-board tariff on China last week.
“We’re going to come up with what is the equivalent of an index, what I would call a reciprocal index, country by country, the outstanding tariffs, non-tariff, the trade barriers and currency manipulation,” Bessent explained.
“I’m expecting that we will get this report and we will see how our trading partners choose to respond. But I can tell you that if he needs to, he will implement them,” he added. “And as he said in the interview yesterday, this can be a big revenue source for the U.S. government.”
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Bessent also responded to widespread criticism from some economists and market experts that tariffs may exacerbate inflation and create extra costs for consumers.
“I think that is a simplified, reductionist view. It’s typical of the old thinking, and it’s the reason the U.S. has been taken advantage of for years and years. It’s the reason we have these gigantic trade deficits. It’s the reason that many of our products aren’t allowed… to be sold abroad,” he said.
“All President Trump wants is for American businesses to have frictionless trade. And I will stand behind our American manufacturers to make the best products at the best price. And they can sell anywhere in the world without these barriers.”
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According to America’s top money manager, accrued revenue from tariffs solely relies on trade partners’ collaboration.
“It’s going to depend on our trading partners’ responses, how quickly they do it, how much they do it over time,” Bessent said. “But I could tell you that these could be very, very substantial if they don’t want to take their tariffs down because we will match them, percent for percent, dollar for dollar.”
