Treasury Sec. Bessent: ‘The Biggest Offender in the Global Trading System Is China’

EXCERPT:

BESSENT: “I will tell you that Wednesday after the president gave his address in the Rose Garden, I -- I was doing media, I was out telling other countries, 'Don't retaliate.' And I think what a lot of people are missing here is that the levels that were put out last Wednesday are a ceiling. So if you don't retaliate -- but if you don't retaliate, that is a ceiling. So we've been overwhelmed with the response to come to D.C. and negotiate. So President Trump on Monday had a very good call with the Japanese prime minister, he had a very good call with the president of Korea yesterday. We're seeing a delegation from Vietnam. So I think we have about 70 negotiations lined up. I'm not planning on going anywhere for Easter. (Laughter) And I believe that I had obviously been providing advice on the tariffs, working more on the tax bill that we'll talk about. And now I'm going to take a lead negotiating role in a lot of the tariffs, starting with the Japanese delegation. But in terms of escalation, unfortunately, the biggest offender in the global trading system is China. And they're the only country who's escalated.”