Bessent Says Tariffs Are Not a Tax on Americans; Economists Disagree

In September 2025, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told NBC's Meet the Press that tariffs imposed under the Trump administration are not a tax on Americans, arguing instead that the tariff-driven economy had produced record GDP and stock market performance. Bessent has repeated similar claims in later months as the administration's tariff program continued.

Economists have widely disputed the framing. Studies, including from Goldman Sachs, found that a large majority of tariff costs are passed on to U.S. businesses and consumers rather than absorbed by foreign exporters, with reported price increases in goods such as washing machines. Because tariffs are collected at the border and then passed through supply chains to retail prices, many economists describe them as functioning like a consumption tax paid domestically.

The dispute matters because it shapes public understanding of who bears the cost of the administration's trade policy. Critics say the "not a tax" framing is a political effort to shield the tariff program from the same scrutiny faced by direct taxation, even as inflation data and corporate earnings reports show consumers absorbing much of the cost.