Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday warned that the reciprocal tariffs on trading partners could go back to the rate slapped on them on “Liberation Day” last month if they don’t engage in good faith negotiations.
“I think that it would be the April 2nd level,” Bessent said on NBC’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker” when asked if future rates would be above 10 percent.
He added, “Some countries were at 10 percent, some were substantially higher. And the negotiating leverage that President Trump is talking about here is if you don’t want to negotiate then it will spring back to the April 2nd level.”
Welker asked Bessent about Trump’s recent comments that trading partners should expect letters from administration officials outlining what the tariff rate will be and if that signals that negotiations are over.
“This means that they’re not negotiating in good faith. They are going to get a letter saying, ‘Here is the rate.’ So, I was expect that everyone would come and negotiate in good faith,” the secretary said.
Trump paused the reciprocal tariffs on trading partners for 90 days a week after “Liberation Day” amid pressure from Wall Street and Republicans because of the turbulence in the stock market. When he initiated the pause, Trump imposed a 10 percent tariff across-the-board on all foreign nations other than China.
He had imposed a 145 percent tariff on China and last week lowered those tariffs to 30 percent, de-escalation that ongoing trade war with Beijing.
The administration has been in talks with other officials since the 90-day pause took effect and Bessent has been at the helm of those negotiations. The administration struck a trade deal with the United Kingdom earlier this month, which includes billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports.
Despite the lower tariff rate on China, Walmart this week warned that they will have to start raising prices on some items. Trump on Saturday called out Walmart for making billions of dollars last year and told the company to not charge customers anything extra.
