Scott Bessent, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be secretary of treasury, speaks as he testifies during a Senate Committee on Finance confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 16, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday the U.S. holds a substantial advantage over China as the two nations exchange threats in a burgeoning trade war.
“I think it was a big mistake, this Chinese escalation, because they’re playing with a pair of twos,” Bessent said during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “What do we lose by the Chinese raising tariffs on us? We export one-fifth to them of what they export to us, so that is a losing hand for them.”
The comments come a day ahead of the U.S. raising its duties on China and dozens of other nations as part of so-called reciprocal tariffs whose purpose, Bessent said, is to bring trading partners to the negotiating table and jobs back to the U.S.
“If we put up a tariff wall, the ultimate goal would be to bring jobs back to the U.S. But in the meantime, we will be collecting substantial tariffs,” Bessent said. “If we’re successful, tariffs would be a melting ice cube, in a way, because you’re taking in the revenues as the manufacturing facilities are built in the U.S., and there should be some level of symmetry between the taxes we begin taking in with the new industry from the payroll taxes as the tariffs decline.”
While he said some 70 countries have reached out to the White House to begin talks, China has vowed it will “fight to the end” and has imposed 34% tariffs on U.S. products.
In return, President Donald Trump said he will slap another 50% charge on Chinese imports if the tariff is not withdrawn.
This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.
