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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent weighed in on both CNN and Fox News after the Rose Garden ceremony and urged patience—and restraint. On Fox, he spoke with Special Report’s Bret Baier and doled out three words of advice:
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered a three-word reply on Wednesday to countries looking to respond to the United States’ broad tariffs: “Do not retaliate.”
President Donald Trump announced on his self-proclaimed “Liberation Day” a 10% baseline tariff across the board and retaliatory tariffs on some of the country’s closest allies, who he says are taking advantage of the U.S.
Among some of the notable tariffs are 34% on China, 20% on the European Union, 24% on Japan and 32% on Taiwan.
The tariffs on China increased to 54% due to an existing 20% tariff.
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BREAKING 🚨 Secretary Bessent’s has a message for countries hit with reciprocal tariffs:
“Do not retaliate. If you do, there will be escalation”
AMERICA IS OFFICIALLY BACK
— MAGA Voice (@MAGAVoice) April 2, 2025
He also warned that countries and leaders thinking of clapping back that they risked “escalation” which would not go well for them:
“My advice to every country right now is do not retaliate. Sit back, take it in, let’s see how it goes. Because if you retaliate, there will be escalation,” Bessent said Wednesday in an interview on “Special Report” shortly after the announcement. “If you don’t retaliate, this is the high-water mark.”