CNBC Excerpts: United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Speaks with CNBC's 'Squawk Box' Today
WHERE: CNBC's "Squawk Box"
Following are excerpts from the unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on CNBC's "Squawk Box" (M-F, 6AM-9AM ET) today, Monday, May 12. Following are links to video on CNBC.com: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2025/05/12/treasury-sec-bessent-likely-to-meet-with-china-again-in-next-few-weeks-on-a-bigger-agreement.html and https://www.cnbc.com/video/2025/05/12/watch-cnbcs-full-interview-with-treasury-secretary-scott-bessent.html
All references must be sourced to CNBC.
BESSENT ON UNITED STATES AND CHINA RELATIONS
BESSENT: I would characterize it very much as President Trump, the equivalent of President Trump's relationship with party Chairman Xi. They have a good relationship, but they both advocate strongly for their respective countries, for their respective citizens. So it was always respectful. We have the two largest economies in the world. We were firm and we moved forward. We tried to identify shared interests. We came with a list of problems that we were trying to solve, and I think we did a good job on that.
BESSENT ON 90 DAY PAUSE
BESSENT: This is a 90 day pause for our tariff program. We had a plan, we had a process. And now what we have with the Chinese is a mechanism to avoid the upward tariff pressure like we did last time. So this is a 90 day pause.
BESSENT ON CHINA DUAL CIRCULATION
BESSENT: Dual circulation means export and domestic use. Dual circulation cannot mean that China overproduces and that only Chinese goods are consumed in China, and then they export the excess to the rest of the world. So we have had the equivalent because of these high tariff rates of an embargo on China, and those goods are going to leak to the rest of the world. So, you know, our negotiations, we don't need to tell other countries what they need to do. They are seeing this wave of Chinese goods coming to their shore. They have to find a home, and that could be at a discount price, undercutting local producers.
BESSE ON DECOUPLING
BESSENT: We do not want a generalized decoupling from China. But what we do want is a decoupling for strategic necessities, which we were unable to obtain during Covid and we realized that efficient supply chains were not resilient supply chains.
BESSENT ON GOAL TO OPEN CHINA FOR AMERICAN BUSINESSES
BESSENT: One of the goals here is to open China for American businesses in a fair way. We want American businesses to be able to sell into China. And part of the goal is bringing down these unfair non-tariff trade barriers and that's what we will be focusing on.
BESSENT ON TARIFFS
BESSENT: If we were going to see any kind of an economic downside from that, it would already be apparent, I would think. And the economic data has surprised on the upside. And now that we have brought these very high tariffs down to 10%, I think the markets, business people live in the future. So, I think we can go through at that 10% baseline, which is very easily, easy to calibrate with.
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US President Donald Trump's plans to impose a 50% import tariffs on copper imports are set to have a more far reaching impact and will include the kinds of materials used for power grids, the military and data centers. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has come out fighting against President Trump's tariffs, insisting that Brazil can survive without trade with the US and that the South American country will now look to other partners to replace it. Lula's defiant response comes after Trump threatened 50% tariffs on the nation. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. President Trump has sent a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announcing broad 35% tariffs on imports from the country starting in August. As he did back in February, Trump cited issues with fentanyl crossing the northern border as a chief reason for establishing these tariffs. That's despite fentanyl seizures on the Canadian border making up less than 1% of the amount discovered entering the country, according to the BBC. Additionally, Trump referenced a "Trade Deficit" between the neighboring countries and "fiscal retaliation" from tariffs set earlier in the year. Trump also pointed to duties charged on American dairy imports as a matter of National Security. The letter in full below: Global copper traders are now shifting from the US and offering cargoes of copper to Chinese buyers as they look to offload metal no longer able to reach the US before President Trump's 50% tariff deadline kicks in. Reuters reports: Read more here. For one company, President Trump's tariffs might not be such a bad thing. Chilean copper miner Antofagasta (ANFGF) said on Thursday that it sees an opportunity for its stalled copper project in the United States following the Trump administration's move to impose 50% import tariffs on the metal, CEO Ivan Arriagada said on Thursday. Reuters reports: Read more here. Sign in to access your portfolio
