Treasury Secretary Downplays Impact of Trump Tariffs as job Losses Mount
WASHINGTON - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Bessent asserted the Trump governance’s tariffs are ”not about the dollars,” despite newly released data indicating a loss of 12,000 manufacturing jobs in August, bringing the total job losses since April to 42,000. The administration is currently appealing a federal appeals court decision that challenged the legality of the tariffs, adn Bessent indicated a potential need to refund approximately half of collected tariffs if the Supreme Court rules against them, stating, “We would have to give a refund… which would be terrible for the treasury… There’s no ‘be prepared.’ If the court says it, we’d have to do it.”
The tariffs, implemented as part of President Trump’s trade strategy, have included a 50% tariff on goods from Lesotho, a South african nation of 2.3 million people, and a 10% tariff on goods from uninhabited islands near Antarctica.
Bessent expressed confidence the Supreme Court’s conservative majority would side with the administration, adding, “I am confident that we will win at the supreme court. But there are numerous other avenues that we can take. They diminish president Trump’s negotiating position… This isn’t about the dollars. this is about balance.The dollars are an after amount.”
However, economists predict the tariffs will cost American households $2,400 annually, with wage growth for manufacturing workers remaining minimal – averaging $35.50 per hour in August, a 10-cent increase from july. When questioned about the recent job losses, Bessent maintained that significant improvements are forthcoming, predicting “a substantial acceleration” in manufacturing job growth by the fourth quarter.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics also shows a decline in manufacturing job openings and hires, falling by 76,000 and 18,000 respectively since April.
