U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unpacks the state of U.S. commerce negotiations on ‘Kudlow.’
Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent weighed in on America’s tariff negotiations with different international locations throughout a late Monday afternoon look on “Kudlow.”
President Donald Trump unveiled new tariffs on items imported from international international locations final week, together with a baseline levy of 10% and “individualized reciprocal higher” tariffs on sure nations.
Bessent instructed host Larry Kudlow that Trump is “better than anyone at giving himself maximum leverage, so what he has done is we outlined the tariffs on April 2 and then gave countries several days to think about it.”
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“As I advised on many shows on April 2, I suggested that the foreign officials keep your cool, that you do not escalate and come to us with your offers on how you’re going to drop tariffs, how you’re going to drop non-tariff barriers, how you’re going to stop your currency manipulation, how you’re going to stop the subsidized financing, and at a point, President Trump will be ready to negotiate,” he defined.
Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent weighed in on America’s tariff negotiations with different international locations. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Photos / Getty Photos)
Trump reported earlier at the moment that he had talked with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Bessent and U.S. Commerce Consultant Jameson Greer have since been tapped to move up tariff negotiations with the nation.
Bessent mentioned Trump was “going to be directly involved in those negotiations” too.
The Treasury secretary mentioned he hadn’t seen any particular supply from Japan however instructed Kudlow that “50, 60, maybe almost 70 countries” have gotten involved with the Trump administration trying to negotiate.
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“So it’s going to be a busy April, May, maybe into June,” Bessent mentioned.
He instructed Kudlow that he anticipated Japan would get “priority” with negotiations “just because they came forward very quickly.” He additionally famous the essential army and financial ties between America and Japan.
Throughout his look, Bessent defended the Trump administration utilizing commerce deficits in its calculus for figuring out reciprocal tariffs on imports from some international international locations. He additionally famous that “academic studies have shown that it’s the non-tariff trade barriers that are the real problem in the U.S. having free and fair access to these markets.”
Bessent defended the Trump administration utilizing commerce deficits in its calculus for figuring out reciprocal tariffs on imports from some international international locations. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Photos / Getty Photos)
Kudlow additionally requested the Treasury secretary whether or not a commerce deal may get performed with Japan within the subsequent couple of weeks.
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“I’ll reiterate what I saw last week for countries that don’t retaliate. We are at a maximum tariff level, and it is my hope that through good negotiations, all we will do is see levels come down. But that’s going to depend on the other countries. And you know, President Trump is going to be personally involved in these negotiations, and he believes, as many of us do, that there’s been an unfair playing field, so the negotiations are going to be tough,” Bessent mentioned.
