On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent responded to a question on why Australia and Israel are included in the tariff list even though Israel eliminated tariffs on the U.S. and the U.S. has a trade surplus with Australia by stating that “non-tariff barriers, in many ways, can be worse than the actual tariffs themselves.”
Host Bret Baier asked, [relevant exchange begins around 4:25] “[D]o you think it is also a negotiating tool, a weapon that some of these countries will come back? … I looked at the list, I saw Israel. They knocked everything down to zero in Israel. But, yet, they’re still on the list…Australia, there’s a trade surplus. The U.S. has a trade surplus with Australia. They’re still on the list. So, are you thinking this is a negotiation in process?”
Bessent responded, “Well, I think a couple of things: I think that, if you look at the academic literature, it will tell you that the non-tariff barriers, in many ways, can be worse than the actual tariffs themselves. I think China’s actual tariffs are only 5%. But it’s impossible or disallowed by law for many American companies to sell things there. As President Trump said that, if — you said we do have a surplus with Australia. But we’re not allowed to sell American beef there. You and I eat it every week. It seems fine. What kind of barrier is that?”
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The post Bessent on Israel Being on Tariff List Despite Axing Theirs: There Are Non-Tariff Barriers appeared first on Breitbart.
