Treasury Secretary Bessent Refuses to Disclose Tariff Negotiation Details to Congress

Congressional Hearing on Trade Negotiations

• 🏛️ Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testified before the House Financial Services Committee regarding ongoing tariff negotiations.
• ❓ Rep. Nydia Velázquez questioned Bessent about specific countries involved in these negotiations, referencing a prior CNBC interview.

Refusal to Disclose Information

• 🚫 Bessent repeatedly refused to answer direct questions about which countries the U.S. is close to striking deals with.
• ⚠️ He stated that revealing such details would be detrimental to the interests of the United States as negotiations are still in process.
• 🗣️ Bessent argued that disclosing information could compromise U.S. negotiating positions.

Justification for Secrecy

• ⏱️ The Secretary indicated that negotiations are ongoing and not yet concluded, even by the end of the week.
• 🤝 He confirmed that there are numerous countries involved, referencing 18 important trading partners mentioned in his CNBC interview.
• 🚀 Bessent assured that the U.S. is moving forward with these trade discussions at all deliberate speed.