Bessent says 15% this week, IEEPA levels later
President Donald Trump’s recently announced 15% global tariffs will be implemented this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday.
Bessent predicted in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that U.S. tariff rates will soon effectively return to where they were before the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s most sweeping mandates.
“I have a strong belief that tariff rates will return to their previous rates within five months,” Bessent said.
Hours after the court invalidated Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs, the president said he signed an executive order imposing a 10% global tax under a different law.
A day later, Trump said he would increase the new tariff rate to 15% “effective immediately.”
In Wednesday’s interview, Bessent noted that replacement tariffs imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 could last only 150 days unless Congress approves an extension.
Bessent said that during this 150-day window, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Department of Commerce will complete trade-related studies that will allow them to impose more tariffs.
“I have a strong belief that tariff rates will return to their previous rates within five months, and these are very arrogant authorities, given that they have survived more than 4,000 legal challenges,” he said.
“They move slower, but they are more robust.”
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