Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent denies that tariff pause is due to market declines

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent denied the president's determination to instrumentality a intermission connected his tariffs was the effect of declines successful the fiscal markets, which person been causing large interest for investors.

The comments came aft the president issued a pause Wednesday for 75 antithetic countries, which, according to the Trump administration, person shown a willingness to negociate commercialized deals successful bully religion with the United States. Simultaneously, the Trump medication accrued its tariff rates connected Chinese goods to 125%, which came aft China imposed tariffs of its ain successful effect to Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff summation past week.  

"This was driven by the president's strategy. He and I had a agelong speech connected Saturday and this was his strategy each along," Bessent responded erstwhile asked if the tariff intermission was the effect of marketplace declines. The Treasury Secretary besides cited an "imbalance" successful the responses from assorted countries, peculiarly China, successful respect to their willingness to negociate caller commercialized deals. 

TRUMP URGES AMERICANS TO ‘HANG TOUGH’ ON TARIFFS PLAN AS MARKETS TUMBLE

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent denied that President Trump's tariff intermission was a absorption to the ongoing fiscal marketplace declines, telling reporters Wednesday that the intermission was portion of Trump's strategy each along.  (GETTY IMAGES/FOX NEWS)

"It is conscionable a processing problem," Bessent said erstwhile asked if the marketplace whiplash was a catalyst for the pause. "Each 1 of these solutions is going to beryllium bespoke. It is going to instrumentality immoderate time, and President Trump wants to beryllium personally involved, truthful that's wherefore we are hitting the 90-day pause."

Meanwhile, Bessent questioned claims from reporters that the enslaved marketplace was "cratering" and said the accusation successful beforehand of him did not bespeak arsenic much. Trump, who besides fielded questions Wednesday astir the marketplace volatility pursuing his tariffs, likewise described the existent enslaved marketplace arsenic "beautiful." 

"I saw past nighttime wherever radical were getting a small queasy," Trump told reporters Wednesday astir his presumption connected the market declines successful narration to his tariffs. "[Markets] went from, you know, beauteous mean today, but implicit the past fewer days, it looked beauteous glum, to, I guess, they accidental it was the biggest time successful fiscal history. That's a beauteous large change." 

"I deliberation the connection would beryllium flexible," Trump added. "You person to beryllium flexible."

WHITE HOUSE ADDRESSES RECESSION FEARS, CALLS MARKET VOLATILITY A ‘PERIOD OF TRANSITION’

A tv broadcasts marketplace quality connected the level of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) successful New York, US, connected Friday, April 4, 2025. The S&P 500 slumped 5.97% connected Friday, closing retired its worst week since Covid, arsenic investors continued to propulsion distant from US equities aft China escalated the commercialized warfare by retaliating against President Donald Trump's tariffs.  (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Stocks did leap backmost up connected Tuesday earlier sliding backmost down erstwhile again earlier the markets closed that evening. However, connected Wednesday, arsenic Trump made his announcement astir the tariff pauses, stocks rallied again, with the S&P 500 seeing its champion time since 2008, according to Market Watch.

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Over the weekend, the president told Americans acrophobic astir the ongoing marketplace volatility to "hang tough," adding that his program is already moving with trillions of dollars already being poured into the U.S. economy. 

"HANG TOUGH, it won’t beryllium easy, but the extremity effect volition beryllium historic," Trump wrote Saturday successful a station connected his societal media level Truth Social. "We will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!" 

The White House declined to remark for this story.