Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent believes the retirement savings plans will be “fine” after President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs go into effect. 

“I think it's going to be fine if we put the best economic conditions in place,” Bessent told Fox News “Special Report” host Bret Baier, when asked what he would say to worried 401K holders. 

The Treasury secretary further argued that recent declines in the stock market are not because of Trump administration policies.

“In my old job, I was a market commentator, and I'm trying not to do that now, but if you, but if you go back and look, the stock market actually peaked on the Deep Six Chinese AI announcement,” Bessent said. “So, a lot of what we've seen has been just an idiosyncratic tech sell off.”

“I would say it's been a Mag 7 problem, not a MAGA problem.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned countries hit with President Trump's reciprocal tariffs Wednesday to not "retaliate" against the United States.

"My advice to every country right now is do not retaliate," Bessent told Fox News "Special Report" host Bret Baier.

The Trump administration official argued that countries should "sit back, take it in" and "see how it goes."

"If you retaliate, there will be escalation," Bessent warned. "If you don't retaliate, this is the high water mark."

President Trump today signed an executive order removing duty-free "de minimis" exemptions for low-value imports from China and Hong Kong, a move the White House says will target the illicit trafficking of synthetic opioids into the United States.

Imported goods valued at or below $800 shipped through non-postal means will now face applicable tariffs while postal packages will be subject to a duty of either 30% or a flat fee per item beginning May 2.

The de minimis exemption benefits foreign retailers, especially from countries like China including e-commerce upstarts Temu and Shein, by allowing them to ship low-value goods to US consumers without paying import duties -- giving them a pricing edge.

It also helps American consumers and small businesses access cheaper products, but critics say it undercuts domestic companies and can be abused to avoid tariffs or smuggle illicit items.

In a statement, the White House said that Trump aims to counteract China's role in the opioid crisis as Chinese shippers frequently exploit loopholes by concealing fentanyl and other harmful substances in low-value shipments.

President Trump’s tariff announcement may have quelled markets in the short term – but the possibility of ongoing negotiations could continue to fuel shakiness on Wall Street, according to an investment adviser.

“If we continue a retaliatory tariff war, it almost guarantees the short-term certainty of uncertainty and that will be challenging Americans, the stock market and business owners around the country,” Ted Jenkin, president of Exit Wealth Advisors, told The Post.

But the revenue generated from the taxes “will most certainly be a bargaining chip at the table of tax cut discussions,” he added.

It will take time before the impact on US investment and manufacturing becomes clear, he said.

Toy makers are expecting to jack up prices on favorites like Tonka trucks and Care Bears after President Trump announced that China would be slapped with a 34% tariff on exports.

Jay Foreman, the CEO of Basic Fun, said that could mean that the current $29.99 price for a Tonka Mighty Dump Truck will skyrocket to $44.99.

In January, when the tariff on Chinese goods was 10%, the Boca Raton, Fla-based company was able to negotiate deals with its factories and retail customers to avoid raising consumer prices.

“We are once again paralyzed as this seems poised for further negotiations,” Foreman told The Post.
China produces about 80% of toys sold in the US.

President Trump's reciprocal tariffs are a "positive" for Wall Street because investors who have already priced in "the bad news" now at least have "certainty" about what to expect, according to a top economist.

While tariffs in and of themselves are not good, the markets can now proceed without having a cloud of uncertainty hanging over them, Dr. Sung Won Sohn, a distinguished economist and academic who teaches at Loyola Marymount University, told The Post.

"In terms of the market, I think it's positive -- not because tariffs are positive," Sohn said.

"Assuming he doesn't change [his mind], there's some certainty, so we know what is in store. We know what to expect."

Sohn said that the markets "can handle bad news, but not uncertainty."

"We've been experiencing uncertainty, and that's one of the reasons the market has not been doing well," the distinguished academic said.

Sohn said that Trump revealed little during his remarks in the Rose Garden on Wednesday.

"Other than the details, nothing is new, so the bad news is already [priced] in the marketplace," he said.

"But as I said, we have some certainty. Once we have certainty—even if it's bad certainty—we can deal with it."

Sohn disagrees with naysayers that the US economy is on the brink of a recession.

"I don't expect the economy to go into a recession because of that, even though inflation would go up and economic growth will slow a bit," he said.

Sohn said that stocks "have been overvalued to begin with, so if you're investing long-term, it's a good time to buy."

"If you're more short-term or more fully invested, I would wait a bit until the market settles down."

Canada and Mexico skirted by being hit by President Trump's tariff announcement.

The two countries -- although criticized by Trump for having big deficits with the US -- were not listed on the chart showing countries hit by the "Liberation Day" order.

That's because Canada and Mexico are subject to the "national emergency related to fentanyl and migration" tariff regime, senior White House officials said before Trump's remarks.

The 10% baseline tariff Trump announced on all countries would only kick in for Canada and Mexico once the 25% tariff rates on them are dropped.

President Trump's across-the-board reciprocal tariffs are "worse than the worst case scenario" -- which will likely trigger a "bloodbath" when the markets open on Thursday morning, according to a senior analyst.

Dan Ives, managing director and global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, told The Post that Trump's newly announced levies on Asian trading giants do not bode well for the US economy.

"It's worse than the worst case scenario," Ives told The Post on Wednesday after Trump announced the tariffs at a Rose Garden news conference.

"The China and the Taiwan tariffs are the backbreakers and that will change the pricing of electronics and consumer goods in the US for years to come."

Ives said he would "expect a bloodbath in terms of the market reaction because it's much worse than expected."

"The worries about more inflation and slower growth are going to be rampant" among investors, according to Ives, who added: "The new tariffs, especially in the automotive sector, are going to be Armageddon-like."

President Trump signed the tariff mandate at a desk in the Rose Garden, holding up the document to applause.

He then handed pens to be passed around before walking into the West Wing.

The baseline 10% tariff will go into effect April 5, senior White House administration officials told reporters before President Trump's announcement.

"The baseline 10% will go into effect on April 5 at 12:01am, and with respect to the higher reciprocal rates, they will go into effect on April 9 at 12:01am," an official said in a phone call.

The stock market took a hit in after-hours trading following President Trump's announcement of broad new tariffs starting at 10%, with steeper rates targeting select nations.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, which mirrors the performance of the S&P 500, dropped roughly 2% after the news.

Meanwhile, the Invesco QQQ ETF, tied to the Nasdaq-100 Index, declined by about 2.6%.

Stocks that have already been under pressure in recent weeks due to escalating trade tensions extended their losses Wednesday evening.

Notably, shares of Nvidia and Tesla each slipped around 3%.