Scott Bessent Finally Admits the Truth About Trump’s Tariff Costs
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was finally able to admit that tariffs are indeed a tax on American importers and consumers, as Trump’s tariffs affecting virtually the entire world took effect on Thursday.
“We’ve got a tariff of 50 percent on Brazil now, I think. And so, if um, someone here, an importer, wants to buy Brazilian products today or tomorrow and import them, they’re gonna pay 50 percent through the Treasury,” MSNBC’s Eugene Robinson said to Bessent, explaining the policy to the treasury secretary as if he were a child. “So who writes that check?”
Bessent has had some issues answering this question directly in the recent past, and he began to equivocate once again.
“Well, couple of things. First, we could have substitutions, so there’s very little that only comes from Brazil,” Bessent replied. “It could come from Argentina, it could come from—”
“But assuming it does come from Brazil, say, or it comes from any country with a tariff,” Robinson said, pulling him back to the actual question. “Who writes the check to the Treasury?”
“Well, the check is written to the person who receives it at the dock, in the U.S.”
“Mhm, the check, is, quote, ‘written by the person who receives it at the dock.’ So the tariff is paid in this country by the importer, is that right?” Robinson said, again highlighting the crux of the matter.
“But the Brazilian exporter could decide that they wanna keep market share, they could lower their price to the full 50 percent of the tariff—”
Right, and then the importer can pass it on or not.”
