By Rachel Cohen
nj.com
(TNS)
MSNBC analyst Eugene Robinson pressed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent into spelling out who is paying for President Donald Trump’s newly imposed sweeping tariffs.
After months of discussions and extensions, Trump’s comprehensive tariffs took effect on Thursday just after midnight ET on dozens of countries, including top U.S. trading partners. Countries importing goods into the United States will encounter at least a 10% rate, while the overall average effective tariff rate also increased to over 18%—the highest tax on foreign goods since the Great Depression, according to Yale Budget Lab, a nonpartisan policy research center.
Trump on Wednesday had also separately announced an additional 25% tariff on India, ticking its tariff rate up to 50% later this month, as punishment for importing Russian oil and gas.
- Related article: Trump’s Tariffs Take Effect in Fresh Test for Global Economy
Early Thursday, Robinson walked Bessent through addressing the “confusion” when it comes to whether a U.S. importer or another country would have to pay for tariffs on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“If someone here—an importer—wants to buy Brazilian products today or tomorrow, and import them, they’re going to pay 50% to the Treasury. So who writes that check?” Robinson asked.
Bessent replied: “Couple of things. First, we could have substitutions. So there’s very little that only comes from Brazil. It could come from Argentina, it could come from …”
Robinson interjected, telling Bessent to assume that a product is coming from Brazil, or any country with a tariff rate.
“Who writes the check to the Treasury?” Robinson repeated.
“Well, the check is written to the person who receives it at the dock in the U.S.,” Bessent responded.
Robinson went on to say, “So the tariff is paid in this country by the importer, is that right?”
Bessent said: “The Brazilian exporter could decide that they want to keep market share. They could lower their price …”
Robinson again chimed in, saying that other countries could “eat” part of the tariff.
“But the check is written by the importer, right, at the dock?” Robinson asked.
“Yep, and then the importer can pass it on, or not,” Bessent concluded.
Social media users argued that Robinson had pushed Bessent to acknowledge that U.S. importers pay for tariffs.
“This is like pulling teeth, but by asking who writes the check, Eugene Robinson finally got Bessent to confirm this basic fact,” one user wrote.
Another user said: “Yes, the tariffs were paid … by American importers, passed to American businesses, and shoved right onto American consumers. Congrats on taxing yourselves!”
Trump had celebrated the start of his tariffs on his Truth Social platform, writing just before midnight that “BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN TARIFFS ARE NOW FLOWING INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!”
“Tariffs are flowing into the USA at levels not thought even possible!” he wrote in a separate post.
Stocks are continuing to rise on Wall Street as of Thursday morning, with the S&P 500 adding 0.6%. However, some experts express concern about the impact of Trump’s tariffs on the economy, especially after last week’s revised weak job report.
Photo caption: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at the IIF Global Outlook Forum in Washington, D.C., on April 23, 2025.
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©2025 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit nj.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.
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EricTheRedPill August 7 2025 at 6:36 pm
The propagandist knew where Bessent was going when he mentioned substitutes, so he interrupted him as to not let his audience become informed. If most people were informed about substitutes, supply & demand elasticity, and other related economic concepts, Trump's tariffs never would've gotten airtime.