Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed in an interview Sunday that President Trump’s massive tariff overhaul last month positioned the U.S. for negotiations on better trade deals with foreign countries and many are engaging.

“I can tell you that, with a few exceptions, the countries are coming with very good proposals for us,” Bessent told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “They want to lower their tariffs; they want to lower their non-tariff barriers.”

He did not provide details when Tapper asked which countries the U.S. could strike deals with or how soon they will happen, but he said that the administration is focused on “18 important trading relationships” and open to regional agreements with blocs of countries.

Bessent also warned that tariff hikes will return after temporary pauses the administration has implemented if countries don’t swiftly forge trade agreements more beneficial to the U.S.

“President Trump has put them on notice that if you do not negotiate in good faith, that you will ratchet back up to your April 2 level,” he said.

The U.S. and China announced a temporary truce this week in the tariff war waged since Trump upped the tax on Chinese imports with his sweeping “Liberation Day” tariff plan on April 2. Negotiations with other countries prompted an earlier 90-day pause on most hikes days after they were announced.

Bessent shot back at complaints about the uncertainty the shifting policies have created for businesses and consumers and described the unpredictable nature, instead, as a helpful tool on CNN.

“We didn’t get her overnight in terms of this terrible trade situation we have with China, but also with the rest of the world, and President Trump is renegotiating these and strategic uncertainty the is a negotiating tactic,” he said.

During the interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Bessent also downplayed Moody’s recent historic downgrade of the federal government’s credit rating from the triple-A category to double-A. A Moody’s representative told The Hill that it marked the first time the credit rating agency and investment firm had ever taken a downgrade rating action on U.S. sovereign debt.

“We are seeing confidence from investors, so I don’t put much credence in the Moody’s,” he said.

Moody’s cited concerns over increased debts and interest payments that need to be paid by the federal government. Republicans in Congress have been struggling to hash out a spending plan that covers President Trump’s agenda before a Memorial Day deadline. The House is scheduled to return to the Capitol on Sunday to continue working on details.

“We’ve been trying to bring down the spending and we are going to grow the revenue side,” Bessent said of the administration’s economic plan.