During a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-CA) accused Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent of interrupting her during her questioning time.
00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Welcome, Mr. Secretary. There was no tax bill passed during the Biden administration, and I know that because I served on this committee during that administration.
00:11So I just wanted to clarify that. And in the interest of time, because our time here is limited, I'm going to ask you to please limit your answers to yes or no questions, and I'm going to jump straight into those questions.
00:23Mr. Secretary, do you still believe that the President's tariffs are going to be a one-time price adjustment for American families?
00:32If prices go up, they will be one time.
00:36Okay. Well, unfortunately, you appear to be talking out of both sides of your mouth because you yourself have admitted, after conversations with Walmart, that some tariff costs are going to get passed on to consumers.
00:48And, in fact, we've already seen that prices are rising on many everyday goods.
00:53No, Congresswoman, today we had a point point one entry.
00:58The time is mine. Please don't interrupt me.
00:59I will ask you questions, and I will grant you an opportunity to answer them, but please don't interrupt me during my time.
01:06With pleasure.
01:06Okay. I know I'm a woman, but please try to limit yourself to answering my questions.
01:12No, I'm sorry, but we get talked over all the time, and I don't want that to happen at this hearing.
01:18I would remind members.
01:21The gentlelady is recognized. Please proceed.
01:23Thank you. The time is mine.
01:24Clothing is going up 20%.
01:26Shoe prices in canned goods like chicken noodle soup and canned fruit and microwave meals have gone up 15%.
01:32Toys are getting more expensive. Walmart just raised the prices of dinosaur action figures by 38%, and baby-born dolls by 43%.
01:41Household goods like drills, toolkits, vacuums have also gone up.
01:45Stanley Black & Decker recently announced higher prices for all of their products, and these are just some of the products that are affected.
01:52On average, Trump's tariffs are estimated to cost households $3,000 more for the same goods than they would have last year.
02:01And that's money that could be going to—
02:02I'm sorry, that's incorrect, and I'm not sure who's estimating.
02:05The best estimates are that consumers will pay $3,000 more for the same goods—
02:12And that estimate is from whom?
02:13—that they did last year.
02:14That estimate's from whom, Congresswoman?
02:15I will get you the estimates, but that's money that could be going to paying rent and groceries.
02:26And it's clear that Trump's trade wars are hurting American families, yet all we have to show for the economic pain are news reports of these flimsy trade deals.
02:37And I understand, Mr. Secretary, that you are co-leading the China trade negotiations.
02:42Do you think that China is a reliable trading partner?
02:45I think we will see.
02:48Well, pardon me for being skeptical of this administration's ability to get anything meaningful out of trade negotiations with China,
02:55because this administration is too swamped with trying to negotiate with 90 countries around the world.
03:02And to me, a poorly negotiated trade deal with China is probably not worth the paper that it's written on,
03:09because this is China's tax—or this is China's track record.
03:12These are facts.
03:14In the Trump administration's phase one trade deal, China promised to increase purchases of U.S. goods and services by $200 billion over two years.
03:24Countless reports, and you yourself, have noted that China has failed to meet these purchase commitments.
03:29Those were purchase commitments that were negotiated by Trump in his first administration.
03:35They met their agreements under President Trump in 2020, and President Biden did not enforce them,
03:40and the Chinese delegation told me that they did not believe they needed to adhere to them under—
03:45No, I'm reclaiming my time.
03:47That's incorrect.
03:48China has also not made the structural reforms that they promised Trump that they would.
03:52Many U.S. companies still reported widespread intellectual property theft and counterfeiting.
03:58So, excuse me if the last attempt by the Trump administration to secure meaningful change from China
04:04doesn't exactly inspire any confidence in the current negotiations.
04:09And, you know, quite frankly, negotiating trade agreements with China requires more time and effort than this administration has given so far.
04:17And that's why I was alarmed to hear this morning that Trump said that the U.S.-China deal was done after just two days of talks in London.
04:25Mr. Secretary, the press release on this so-called deal looks more like a framework.
04:30Congress, who has the constitutional authority over trade, needs the details of this supposed deal.
04:38So I'm asking if you will provide this committee with the actual details of this deal,
04:44because there has been, unlike what was said earlier, there has been no consultation with our side of the aisle, at least, on the China negotiation.
04:53Will you commit to giving us the specifics of that deal, the details?
04:57The Congresswoman, I flew back at 4 a.m. this morning to be here this morning, and we are...
05:03It's a simple yes or no question.
05:04No, it is not a simple yes or no question.
05:07We are in the midst of constructing it.
05:10And back to your question, China has proven an unreliable partner in strategic...
05:17Will you commit to consulting with us on trade deal with China?
05:20The gentleman's time has expired.
05:21I would ask the witness to be allowed to answer that last question.
05:26The gentleman's time has expired.
05:27It's a yes or no question.
05:28It's very simple.
05:29Representative, I raise many of your concerns to the Chinese delegation, and it will be a longer process.
05:37The trade deal today, or last night, was for a specific goal, and it will be a much longer process.
05:46And I will note that the previous administration did nothing.
05:50But excuse me, the question is whether or not you would be small with members of Congress.
05:54Mr. Arrington's time is now Mr. Arrington's time.
