(NewsNation) — Members of the House Appropriations Committee questioned Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday amid an escalating trade war.
Bessent will appear as the Trump administration faces stock market turmoil and increasing fears of a recession among voters.
In an exchange with Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., Bessent went silent when asked who paid tariffs, before attempting to say it was complicated and avoid giving a straight answer. He also defended the idea of “strategic uncertainty” in negotiations. Pocan pushed back by noting that small businesses can’t face the same kind of uncertainty as large corporations and will be the ones pushed out of business.
President Donald Trump’s steep tariffs on China have led to warnings of shortages and high prices, with some experts warning consumers could start seeing empty shelves in a matter of days.
Trump has not backed down from his insistence that tariffs will benefit the country in the long term and has claimed that multiple countries have been making deals to provide more favorable trade conditions to the United States in exchange for lower tariffs.
None of those deals have been announced, however, and China has repeatedly rejected assertions from the White House that it is ready to make deal.
