CBS: The U.S. Treasury Secretary and Trump had a heated debate over tariff policy
ChainCatcher News, CBS reported, citing multiple informed sources, that while the White House has been trying to assert that Trump administration officials are unified in their stance on U.S. tariff policy, internal divisions regarding the policy had already emerged weeks before Trump signed the so-called "reciprocal tariff" executive order on April 2. Senior advisors to Trump had privately warned that some tariff proposals could have devastating effects on global financial markets and plunge the U.S. economy into a downward spiral.CBS stated that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Basset and Trump's senior trade and manufacturing advisor Peter Navarro had a heated argument in the office of White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles in late March. According to several informed sources, Navarro advocated for a comprehensive 25% tariff on $3 trillion worth of imported goods, while Basset, a former Wall Street investor, warned that such a move would trigger market turmoil and outlined various risk scenarios. The report indicated that intense rhetoric was continuously emerging.
