U.S. Treasury Nominee "Using Tariffs in Negotiations...We need to correct unfair practices."

U.S. Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent has indicated his willingness to actively use tariffs to gain an edge in negotiations with China and other countries.

During his Senate confirmation hearing, Bessent said all tools should be used to better serve the interests of U.S. workers.

The three uses of tariffs are a tool to correct unfair trade practices, boost federal revenue and gain an edge in negotiations with foreign countries, Bessent said.

In particular, he explained that he has already used too much sanctions on tariffs as a bargaining tool, preventing other countries from spending the U.S. dollar, so he could use tariffs for negotiations rather than sanctions.

Besent also said he would begin to urge China to fulfill its purchase commitments included in the agreement with China, and could also urge China to fill purchases it has not kept for the past four years.

China is the most unbalanced economy in the world's history, Bessent said, noting that it may try to solve the problem with exports instead of internal rebalancing, even with negative 4% de-inflation.

At the same time, he said it was an interesting idea when asked about "foreign pollution fees," saying that countries like China could impose a so-called "carbon tax" when exporting products that emit carbon intensively in the production process to the United States.