US Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent will speak at the White House in Washington on February 3, 2025.
Elizabeth Franz | Reuters
Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent said Sunday that President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs are unlikely to raise inflation.
Bessent’s comments will come two days before customs duties are scheduled to come into effect Tuesday. Trump is expected to impose a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada. The president also announced that the US would impose a 10% obligation on China’s imports, in addition to the 10% tariffs imposed on the country on February 4th.
Some economists have raised concerns about the possibility that tariffs could lead to increased inflation and raise interest rates through 2026.
In an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Bessent was asked how tariffs affect the average household.
“Well, it depends on the path so I don’t know yet, but all I can say to you is that I’m not worried about China,” Bescent said. “China will pay for the tariffs as their business model is exporting ways to get out of this inflation.”
“They’ll eat the tariffs that follow,” Bescent added.
China’s Commerce Department said Friday it had “sturdy opposed” Trump’s latest tariff hikes and vowed to retaliate if necessary. After the US enacted early tariffs in February, China caused obligations on certain US energy imports, adding two US companies to its unreliable entities list. Experts suggested that China could take similar steps again after adding fresh tariffs.
“If the US claims in its own way, China will take all necessary measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests,” a Commerce Department spokesman previously told CNBC.
Bescent was asked on Sunday last week about his comments that Mexico proposed to match China’s US tariffs to prevent Trump’s tariffs from stricken. He also urged Canada to follow Mexican proposals.
“We know. The Mexican leaders offered to do that,” Bescent said. “We’ve never heard of Canadians, but I think it’s a very good start.”
He added that the state announcement on Tuesday would “or perhaps the tariff barriers could rise and see what will happen from there.”
Watch: China vows to retaliate when necessary after Trump threatens tariff hikes
