Trump’s tariff hike to 15% likely this week, Bessent says
The Treasury chief also plays down the risk to the oil market from the US and Israeli war against Iran
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[WASHINGTON] US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that President Donald Trump’s plan to increase a 10 per cent universal tariff to 15 per cent will likely be done “sometime this week”.
He was speaking on CNBC in response to a question about when the increase would be implemented.
Trump last month put a 10 per cent universal levy in place after the Supreme Court invalidated most of his previous tariff regime.
Bessent noted that the authority for the new duties only allows for the measure to last 150 days. During that time, he said that US trade authorities will be looking at using other legislation to resurrect the tariff regime that had been in place prior to the high court’s ruling.
“It’s my strong belief that the tariff rates will be back to their old rate within five months,” he added. “They are very slow-moving, but they are more robust,” he said of the so-called Sections 301 and 232 tariffs that are planned to replace the invalidated IEEPA duties.
US stock futures erased gains after Bessent’s comment on the higher tariff. Contracts on the S&P 500 were down about 0.1 per cent as at 7.49 am in New York after being up as much as 0.4 per cent earlier in the session.
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The Treasury chief also played down the risk to the oil market from the US and Israeli war against Iran, saying that there is ample global supply and that the Trump administration will be taking steps to support the sector.
Oil market
“I would encourage everyone to look through the noise and see where we are going on the other side of this in terms of the crude markets – the crude markets are very well supplied,” Bessent said.
“There are hundreds of millions of barrels on the water away from the Gulf. But more importantly, we have a series of announcements that we’re going to be making.”
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He pointed to the previously announced plan for the US government to offer insurance for oil cargo ships when appropriate, and for the US Navy to provide safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
Bessent highlighted China’s vulnerability to any cutoff of oil shipments from the Persian Gulf, saying more than 50 per cent of its energy comes from that region. “They’ve probably been buying 95 per cent of the Iranian crude. That’s obviously on hold right now.”
Asked about Trump’s comment on Tuesday suggesting a trade embargo with Spain, and whether the Treasury chief would be responsible for that, Bessent said: “It would be a combination effort.” He did not specifically comment on whether such a sanction would be enacted. BLOOMBERG
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