Following US President Donald Trump's claim that the American populace would receive a tariff "dividend" of at least $2,000 per person, treasury secretary Scott Bessent has offered more insights into how this could take place.
This comes amid a group of eight Democrats on Sunday night (local time) aiding Republicans in a 60-40 vote in the Senate—the first of many steps in a bid to end the 40-day government shutdown, which is said to be the longest in US history.
In an interview on Sunday (local time) with ABC News' 'This Week', Bessent explained that the Trump administration's dividend idea was part of a larger effort to "re-balance trade".
"Tariff income will be substantial at the beginning. It will come down. And then domestic tax revenues will climb as corporate taxes go up and all of these high-paying jobs are created," he explained.
When asked how the $2,000 dividend would be distributed to Americans, Bessent said there was no formal proposal for the plan yet, as he had not yet discussed it with Trump.
However, Bessent also speculated that the $2,000 tariff dividends could be made available to the public by means of tax cuts.
This would exclude "high income people", as Trump clarified in a recent Truth Social post, though the US President did not offer further clarification on an upper limit.
"You know, it could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on the president's agenda. You know, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security. Deductibility of auto loans. So, you know, those are substantial deductions that, you know, are being financed in the tax bill," Bessent said.
Trump's strong two-part reaction in favour of the blanket tariffs comes days after Supreme Court justices (including conservatives) questioned the legality and the need for the tariffs that he had said were necessary to restore America's manufacturing power and fix its trade deficits.
"The whole thing is ridiculous! Other Countries can Tariff us, but we can’t Tariff them??? ... Businesses are pouring into the USA ONLY BECAUSE OF TARIFFS. HAS THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT NOT BEEN TOLD THIS??? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON???" he wrote in a Truth Social post after the Wednesday hearing.
Calling those against tariffs "fools" in another post, he went on to claim that the tariffs were raking in "trillions of dollars" that would be used to repay the country's debts.