On September 5, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gives a speech in the Oval Office.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent rejected that the tariffs are essentially a tax on American consumers on Sunday, but he did say that if the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the Trump administration’s tariffs are unlawful, the United States may wind up providing large refunds.
During an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Bessent expressed his confidence that the Supreme Court will uphold the tariffs. However, he told anchor Kristen Welker that even if they aren’t, “there are numerous other avenues that we can take,” even though doing so would “diminish President Trump’s negotiating position.”
According to a transcript, Bessent stated, “It would be awful for the Treasury if we had to refund roughly half of the tariffs.” “If the court says it, we’d have to do it.”
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Bessent also denied rumors that the Trump administration’s tariffs are costing billions of dollars to big businesses like Nike Inc. (NKE), Deere & Co. (DE), and the Big Three (GM) (F) (STLA) automakers.
“And for every John Deere we have companies who are telling us, ‘The tariffs have helped our business,'” said Bessent. He didn’t name the businesses.
“These companies say they’re eating the tariffs,” Welker responded when she questioned him on the subject.
“So, and again, there are numerous companies that are doing the opposite,” Bessent retorted. You’re stealing these from earnings calls, you know. Additionally, they must present the harsh picture during earnings calls. ‘Oh, we’re doing this because of the tariffs,’ some corporations are stating. However, he contended that there is a “record amount” of foreign investment and that American businesses are still promising to increase capital spending. “Why was the GDP 3.3% if things are that bad? What is causing the stock market to reach a record high?
Bessent responded bluntly when asked if he would accept that tariffs represent a burden on American consumers: “No, I don’t.”
More precisely, Bessent dismissed an August Goldman Sachs research that revealed U.S. companies and consumers have paid 86% of the tariff revenue collected thus far.
“I made a good career of trading against Goldman Sachs,” once-manager of a hedge fund Bessent added.
However, Goldman is not the only one who says that. Data indicates that certain businesses have “little room” to absorb costs, with over one-third reducing capital expenditures, according to a note released by Wedbush analysts on Sunday. According to the report, companies have already increased their prices in response to tariffs, “and we expect them to pass more cost increases onto the consumer in the coming months.”
