BURSTTreasury Secretary Scott Bessent encouraged countries around the world to refrain from retaliating against the U.S. in light of President Trump’s reset of tariff policy, arguing the administration is preparing the U.S. for “long-term” economic growth.
“My advice to every country right now is, do not retaliate, sit back, take it in, let's see how it goes, because, if you retaliate, there will be escalation. If you don't retaliate, this is the high water-mark,” Bessent said during his Wednesday evening interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier.
Trump announced the new U.S. tariff policy on Wednesday, imposing a minimum of 10 percent import tax on all goods coming into the country. Dozens of nations are being hit with a higher rate, ranging as high as 49 percent.
The tariffs will be determined by adding up the rate of tariffs and factors such as currency manipulation, and then dividing the sum in half, according to Trump.
Mexico and Canada, the U.S.'s largest trading partners alongside China, are still being hit with 25 percent tariffs, although goods under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement are exempt.
“The tariffs will be not a full reciprocal. I could have done that, I guess,” Trump said. “But it would have been tough for a lot of countries.”
Baier asked Bessent what message the administration has for people who are concerned about their 401(k)s in light of the Wednesday tariff rollout.
"Bret, I say that what we are doing is, we're setting the stage for long-term economic growth, that we were on our way to a financial crisis,” the Treasury secretary said on Wednesday. “I used to teach a history of financial crises. And with that gigantic government spending, it was unsustainable.”
"You look back in 1998, you look back in 2007, ... it looked great right before everything collapsed,” Bessent added. “We have taken us off that trajectory and we are putting ourselves back onto a sound trajectory.”