- Scott Bessent said the uncertainty over tariffs is a trade negotiating tactic.
- Bessent said countries could "play us in the negotiations" if the US gives them "too much certainty."
- The US and China agreed to reduce their tariffs on each other by 115% for 90 days.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that President Donald Trump is employing "strategic uncertainty" as a negotiating tactic in his trade talks with other countries.
Bessent was speaking to CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" when he was asked about the uncertainty Trump's tariffs had brought to small businesses in the US.
"We didn't get here overnight in terms of this terrible trade situation we have with China, but also with the rest of the world. And President Trump is renegotiating these, and strategic uncertainty is a negotiating tactic," Bessent told Tapper.
"So, if we were to give too much certainty to the other countries, then they would play us in the negotiations," Bessent added. "I am confident that, at the ends of these negotiations, both the retailers, the American people, and the American workers will be better off."
Trump announced sweeping tariffs on more than 180 countries on April 2. A baseline rate of 10% went into effect on April 5. A higher set of tariffs, which varied by country, took effect on April 9 before Trump announced a 90-day pause on the same day. The on-and-off-again tariff announcements sparked a massive market sell-off.
That pause, however, did not apply to China, which saw its tariff rates hit 145% in April.
Last week, Bessent announced that the US has reached an agreement with China to reduce their tariffs for 90 days.
Bessent said the US will slash their tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30% for 90 days. China will lower its tariffs from 125% to 10% over the same period.
"We don't want to decouple with China. And President Trump actually wants to open up China for business. So the manufacturing, we want to bring back," Bessent said in his interview on Sunday.
"During COVID, we realized that we had some very strategic shortfalls, whether it was medicines, semiconductors, steel, the other products. So the medium-term goal is to bring back these strategic industries as quickly as possible," Bessent added.
The White House and Treasury did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
