Bessent singles out Beijing amid tariff pause: ‘They are the problem for the rest of the world’

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that China is at odds with the rest of the world as the Trump administration alleviated tariffs for everyone but Beijing on Wednesday. 

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he would reduce recently imposed reciprocal tariffs on several countries, while also revealing an immediate increase in tariffs on Chinese goods to 125%.

"China is the most imbalanced economy in the history of the modern world," Bessent told reporters Wednesday. "They are the biggest source of the U.S. trade problems, and indeed they are the problem for the rest of the world." 

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On Wednesday, duties of 104% took effect against Chinese goods entering the U.S. — prompting China to respond by upping its tariffs on U.S. goods from 34% to 84%.

"I'm not calling it a trade war, but I think that China has escalated, and President Trump responded very courageously to that, and we are going to work on a solution with our trading partner," Bessent said. 

By contrast, Bessent said that more than 75 countries have contacted the Trump administration to work on hashing out a trade solution, and he expects more will do so after Wednesday. 

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick voiced similar sentiments, and said that China deviated from other countries in refusing to come to the negotiating table with the U.S. to broker a new trade deal. 

"The world is ready to work with President Trump to fix global trade, and China has chosen the opposite direction," Lutnick said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday. 

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Trump disclosed historic tariffs in a ceremony at the White House’s Rose Garden for a "Make America Wealthy Again" event on April 2, asserting these new duties would generate new jobs for U.S. workers.

The tariff plan established a baseline tax of 10% on all imports to the U.S., along with customized tariffs for countries that place higher tariffs on American goods. The baseline tariffs of 10% took effect Saturday, while the others took effect Wednesday at midnight. 

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Trump announced in a post on Truth Social Wednesday that reciprocal tariffs announced last week would remain paused for 90 days, during which period the countries would only face the baseline 10% tariff. 

"At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable," Trump posted on his Truth Social media platform on Wednesday. 

Fox News' Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.