Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent weighed in on America’s tariff negotiations with other countries during a late Monday afternoon appearance on “Kudlow.”
President Donald Trump unveiled new tariffs on goods imported from foreign countries last week, including a baseline levy of 10% and “individualized reciprocal higher” tariffs on certain nations.
Bessent told 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 explained.
Trump reported earlier today that he had talked with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jameson Greer have since been tapped to head up tariff negotiations with the country.
Bessent said Trump was “going to be directly involved in those negotiations” too.
The Treasury secretary said he hadn’t seen any specific offer from Japan but told Kudlow that “50, 60, maybe almost 70 countries” have gotten in contact with the Trump administration looking to negotiate.
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“So it’s going to be a busy April, May, maybe into June,” Bessent said.
He told Kudlow that he expected Japan would get “priority” with negotiations “just because they came forward very quickly.” He also noted the important military and economic ties between America and Japan.
During his appearance, Bessent defended the Trump administration using trade deficits in its calculus for determining reciprocal tariffs on imports from some foreign countries. He also noted 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.”
Kudlow also asked the Treasury secretary whether a trade deal could get done with Japan in the next 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 said.
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