Besant denies that Trump's tariffs are a tax on Americans.

On September 8, Jin10 reported that U.S. Treasury Secretary Basant denied during an interview with NBC News that Trump's comprehensive trade tariffs are a tax on Americans. He refuted concerns from major U.S. companies such as John Deere, Nike, and Badger, which have stated that Trump's tariff policy will cost them billions of dollars each year. Basant stated, "People are drawing these conclusions from earnings call conferences, where companies have to present harsh scenarios. But no company has come out and said, 'Oh, we did this because of the tariffs.'" He went on to add, "If things were that bad, why is GDP at 3.3%? Why is the stock market hitting new highs? Because President Trump cares about both big companies and small companies."