US Treasury chief not worried about shops running out of items ‘at present’
‘I think we’ll see replacements,’ Scott Bessent said referring to Trump trade tariffs, particularly a 145 per cent levy on goods from China
The White House also introduced several sector-specific tariffs of 25 per cent, and has threatened to reimpose higher measures on dozens of trading partners if they do not reach a deal to lower trade barriers with the United States.
Asked during an interview with Fox and Friends if he was concerned about reports of empty shelves due to the tariffs, Bessent replied: “Not at present.”
“We have some great retailers,” he said during the Fox News interview. “I assume they pre-ordered.”
“I think we’ll see some elasticities. I think we’ll see replacements, and then we will see how quickly the Chinese want to de-escalate.”