Bessent says Trump’s $2,000 ‘dividend’ may come via tax cuts

(Bloomberg) — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Americans may receive a tariff “dividend” of at least $2,000 could come via the tax cuts passed in his signature economic policy bill earlier this year.

Bessent was asked on ABC’s about a social media post by Trump earlier Sunday that derided people who oppose tariffs and said a “dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.”

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Bessent said he hadn’t spoken to the president about this idea but “the $2,000 dividend could come in lots of forms, in lots of ways. It could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on the president’s agenda — no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security – deductibility on auto loans.”

Trump has been stepping up his defense of his tariffs regime since the Supreme Court on Nov., 5 heard arguments for a suit to get them thrown out. Several justices seemed skeptical, raising the possibility many of the levies could be overturned, forcing more than $100 billion in refunds and taking away a centerpiece of his second term.

The president has said it would be a “disaster” for the US if the court ruled against him.

Part of the case involves Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” tariffs, which impose taxes of between 10% and 50% on most US imports depending on the originating country. Trump says those duties are warranted to address the longstanding national trade deficit.

One question surrounding the administration’s defense of tariffs is whether revenue raised from tariffs are de facto taxes, which Chief Justice John Roberts said have “always been the core power of Congress.”

Trump cited revenue flows in his Truth Social post on Sunday, saying the US is “taking in Trillions of Dollars and will soon begin paying down our ENORMOUS DEBT, $37 Trillion.”

Asked about the president’s comment, Bessent expanded the argument.

“Over the course of the next few years we could take in trillions of dollars,” he told ABC. “But the real goal of tariffs is to rebalance trade and make it more fair.”

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