Bessent Shrugs Off Tariff Selloff, Says Wall Street Isn’t FocusUS Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent projected confidence in President Donald Trump’s expansive plans to tariff foreign nations even as the stock market slumped in reaction to the first round of levies on Canada and Mexico.
“Over the medium term, which is what we’re focused on, it’s a focus on Main Street. Wall Street’s done great, Wall Street can continue to do fine, but we have a focus on small business and consumers,” Bessent said on Fox News’s Fox & Friends Tuesday. “So we are going to rebalance the economy.”
To be sure, Bessent argued that there would be a transition period as the tariffs kick in this month and next, but he argued that the market selloff was only temporary.
“With the China tariffs, I am highly confident that the Chinese manufacturers will eat the tariffs — prices won’t go up,” Bessent said. “With Canada and Mexico, I think we’re in the middle of a transition, and as you mentioned, Honda moving to Indiana is a great start.”
So far, Trump has imposed 25% tariffs on all Mexican imports and most Canadian ones — except for energy products, which face a 10% rate. He also has doubled his new charge on China to 20%, while 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports are due to take effect next week. He’s also pledging to implement reciprocal levels of tariffs on foreign nations, and to place additional levies on lumber, pharmaceuticals, semiconductor chips, copper, and auto imports, beginning as soon as April 2..........
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bessent-shrugs-off-tariff-selloff-131641908.html
