“My advice to all countries now is not to retaliate,” Secretary Bescent said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent has warned the country to avoid retaliation against the United States after President Donald Trump announced a wide range of tariffs of at least 10% on all imports into the country.
“Don’t retaliate my advice to all countries now. Sit down, take it in and see what it will turn out, because if you retaliate, there’s escalation. If you don’t retaliate, this is a high water mark.”
Baier then asked Bessent about the message the administration has for individuals interested in retirement plans, including 401(k) or Roth Iras, in light of tariffs. On Thursday morning, major US stock indexes fell, with the Dow Jones industrial average plummeting 1,500 points at one point.
“Brett, what we’re doing is saying we’re setting the stage for long-term economic growth. We were heading towards a financial crisis,” the Treasury Secretary responded.
“I used to teach the history of the financial crisis, and it was unsustainable due to its enormous government spending.”
Bescent then pointed to a decline in the previous stock index, saying, “it looked good just before everything collapsed.” The Trump administration “removed us from that trajectory” due to the market crash, and “and we’re back on a healthy trajectory,” he added.
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Trump announced Wednesday that 10% tariffs will come into effect on April 5th, with mutually high fees in certain countries beginning on April 9th.
The new tax includes a 34% tariff on imports from China, 46% in Vietnam, 24% in Japan and 20% in Europe. In China, that means that the total tax will rise to 54%.
Announcing the collection, Trump spoke from a fairness perspective, arguing that mutual tariffs are a response to duties and other non-tariff barriers imposed on US goods for many years.
“In many cases, friends are worse than their enemies in terms of trade,” Trump said.
European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen described the tariff as a major blow to the global economy, saying the 27-person bloc is ready to respond with measures.
“Uncertainty swirls and causes further rise of protectionism, and the outcome will be disastrous for millions of people around the world,” von der Leyen said in a statement, adding that the EU is preparing to fight back if talks with Washington fail.
Officials from the Chinese administration also said the country retaliated against the US and opposed the new tariffs. Meanwhile, Trump recently signed a new order closing trade loopholes that allow low-dollar packages from China and Hong Kong to enter the US at no mandatory fees, allowing companies like Temu and Shein to infiltrate the US market in recent years.
In an interview Thursday morning about “Fox and Friends,” Vice President JD Vance said there may be short-term pain associated with tariffs, but argued that such measures are needed to revive American jobs and increase domestic manufacturing.
“We know that a lot of Americans are worried,” he told Fox News. “The thing we ask people to thank here is that we’re not going to fix things overnight.”
During the successful campaign in 2024, Trump vowed to implement tariffs on many countries, including a minimum baseline tariff of 10-20% on all items entering the US.
He also said last year he wanted to see a minimum 60% tariff on all Chinese products.
Reuters contributed to this report.
