Treasury Secretary Won’t Say Who Pays Trump’s Tariffs

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declined to directly answer who bears the cost of President Trump’s tariffs during a House hearing, calling it a “very complicated question,” Barron’s Janet H. Cho reported.

Bessent's evasive answers follow reports that the Trump administration requested new trade talks with China in Geneva, signaling economic strain. I Photo: U.S. Treasury Department X

Bessent was pressed repeatedly by Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.), who noted that small businesses like his are already facing tariff surcharges. The exchange comes amid renewed scrutiny of Trump’s trade policies, which Bessent himself has called “unsustainable.”

His evasive answers follow reports that the Trump administration requested new trade talks with China in Geneva, signaling economic strain. Despite Trump’s public claims that foreign exporters pay the tariffs, US importers actually bear the cost.