‘Sit Back, Take It’: Trump Treasury Secretary Warns Tariffed Countries Not To Retaliate

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned countries not to retaliate against tariffs imposed by the U.S. or their goods will get slapped with even higher tariffs when imported into the U.S.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced baseline tariffs of 10% on all imports, plus higher tariffs on goods from dozens of select nations, including 34% on imports from China, 46% on goods from Vietnam, and 20% tariffs on imports from the European Union. Meanwhile, the president left in place existing tariffs on Canada and Mexico in place.

Shortly afterward, Bessent joined Special Report on Fox News, which Bret Baier was hosting on the White House grounds. The host pointed to after-hours trading in the markets, which reacted bearishly to Trump’s announcement.

“The president calls it ‘Liberation Day,'” Baier said. “We showed the markets before, but if you saw the post-market reaction, it was kind of down across the board. People are looking at their 401(k)s and they worry about it. What do you say to them tonight?”

“Bret, I say that what we are doing is we’re setting the stage for long-term economic growth, that we were on our way to a financial crisis. I used to teach a history of financial crises. And with gigantic government spending, it was unsustainable. You look back in 1998, you look back in ’07. Right before it looked great, everything collapsed.”

Baier followed up by noting the exorbitant 54% on Chinese-made goods and asked Bessent if the White House believes China will retaliate. The secretary responded by warning China and all other nations not to reciprocate.”

“Well, we will see what they do,” Bessent responded. “My advice to every country right now is do not retaliate. Sit back, take it in. Let’s see how it goes because if you retaliate, there will be escalation. If you don’t retaliate, this is the high water mark.”

Watch above via CNN.