The Trump administration will give countries a proposed tariff rate based on their own rates, non-tariff trade barriers and other factors while also providing an opportunity to negotiate around the “tariff wall,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday.
“On April 2, each country will receive a number that we believe represents their tariffs,” Bessent told Fox Business Network. “For some countries, it could be quite low, for some countries, it could be quite high.”
President Donald Trump has said the “reciprocal tariffs” taking effect April 2 will offset trade practices his administration deems unfair. Bessent said the tariffs are designed to protect the U.S. economy, its workers and industries.
“We are going to go to them and say, ‘Look, here’s where we think the tariff levels are, non-tariff barriers, currency manipulation, unfair funding, labor suppression, and if you will stop this, we will not put up the tariff wall,'” Bessent said of trading partners.
The federal government has begun the process of reinstating more than 24,000 probationary employees who were fired before a federal judge ruled the sweeping effort to shrink the government was illegal.
District Judge James K. Bredar granted a temporary restraining order last week demanding the Trump administration reinstate federal probationary employees terminated on or after Jan. 20. The case was filed by attorneys general in 19 states and the District of Columbia, all Democrats.
A filing late Monday in a federal court in Maryland said the reinstatement process was underway for the workers despite the “substantial burdens” the process creates for the agencies and employees. The filing said all the employees brought back would be required to go through the lengthy onboarding process.
The Treasury Department leads all departments with 7,613 probationary workers being brought back; the Internal Revenue Service accounts for 7,315 of them. It is followed by the Department of Agriculture, which has reinstated 5,714 previously fired workers, and the Department of Health and Human Services, which has brought back 3,248 employees
Despite the setback, Trump and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency are continuing with their efforts to trim the federal payroll − that now numbers more than 2 million employees − by eliminating the Education Department and gutting many federal agencies.
Trump pledged to encourage production of electricity at U.S. coal plants as he continued his push for cheap energy to combat inflation while dismissing environmental concerns.
“After years of being held captive by Environmental Extremists, Lunatics, Radicals, and Thugs, allowing other Countries, in particular China, to gain tremendous Economic advantage over us by opening up hundreds of all Coal Fire Power Plants, I am authorizing my Administration to immediately begin producing Energy with BEAUTIFUL, CLEAN COAL,” Trump said in a social media post late Monday.
Trump said he would consider a plan to pay out $5,000 stimulus checks to taxpayers in the form of a “DOGE dividend” during a recent speech. He explained it as a part to take 20% of the savings identified by Elon Musk‘s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and give it back to the American taxpayers. The idea was floated by Azoria investment firm CEO James Fishback on Musk’s social media platform X, to which Musk replied “Will check with the President.“
In a recent interview with NewsNation, Fishback said it was not enough to identify waste and fraud, saying the government should “refund the taxpayer their hard-earned money when their money was wasted and misused.” He wants checks sent only to households that are net-income taxpayers − people who pay more in taxes than they get back. Read more here.
− Maria Francis
Trump also said this week that the U.S. isn’t anticipating any exemptions on major tariffs set to go into effect next month despite fears the tariffs could drive up prices, fuel a recession and push stock prices lower. Trump said recently that 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imported into the U.S. that went into effect last week are here to stay, adding that additional tariffs will kick in on April 2.
While stocks have been volatile in the last few weeks, they rallied for a second straight session on Monday, shrugging off concerns of a recession after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wouldn’t rule one out. Bessent’s comments came after Trump himself declined to weigh in on the possibility of a recession this year, telling Fox’s Maria Bartiromo earlier this month: “I hate to predict things like that.”
A tariff is a form of tax imposed on imports from another country. Economists generally agree that trade barriers raise consumer prices and negatively impact economic output and income, according to the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax policy nonprofit.
Tariffs create more demand for domestic manufacturers, but those companies are also part of the global supply chain and therefore also are affected by tariffs.
Trump has said his motivation for implementing tariffs is to get help from China, Canada and Mexico to curb the flow of migrants and illegal drugs into the U.S. The president has insisted the countries have not done enough to help address what he sees as core issues for his administration.
– Kinsey Crowley and Jonathan Limehouse
Trump won’t say whether he thinks his sweeping tariff plan could help push the country into a recession. But the threat of tariffs and the already-increasing costs of everyday items are raising concerns about where the economy is headed.
A recession could happen if more people are out of work, large companies see lower profits, the stock market slips and home prices tumble, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Generally, a recession is marked by an extended period of many months or more of economic downturn. And even when a recession is acknowledged by experts and officials, not everyone agrees on when it started or when it ends.
− Damon C. Williams and Zachary Schermele
Contributing: Medora Lee
