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Amid the wait for the Supreme Court to issue its ruling on President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent headed to Capitol Hill this week to defend what he has previously described as the president’s "signature economic policy."
Bessent faced questions largely from congressional Democrats about the import duties Thursday from the Senate Banking Committee and on Wednesday from the House Financial Services Committee.
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., pressed the treasury secretary about how the duties have affected the cost of housing construction. A recent analysis from the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, projected that about 450,000 homes would not be constructed over the next five years due to higher costs on homebuilding materials such as lumber, copper, cabinets and steel from tariffs. 
Bessent replied by citing a separate study about the role of immigration on higher housing costs. 
Several Democrats also raised remarks Bessent made in a letter in 2024 –– before Trump won the election –– that tariffs “are inflationary."
“My predictions have been bad,” Bessent said, adding, “I also said it would strengthen the dollar, and the opposite has happened.”
In its most recent report, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said that consumer prices rose 2.7% in December compared with a year ago — slightly higher than the 2% target set by the Fed.
“Tariff inflation was the dog that didn’t bark,” the treasury secretary later said, in response to a question from Rep. William Timmons, R-S.C.
Bessent’s testimony comes as the Trump administration and importers alike await an opinion by the nation’s top court on tariffs the president imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, last year. 
Several small businesses and Democrat-led states sued the federal government over Trump’s imposition of his “Liberation Day” tariffs as well as import duties placed on goods from China, Mexico and Canada over “the flow” of fentanyl and other opioids from those countries into the U.S. 
During oral arguments before the justices in November, attorneys for the plaintiffs insisted that only Congress has the power to tax and argued that tariffs are not included in the scope of IEEPA. U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer contended that tariffs fell under the president’s authority to “regulate foreign treasury.”
It’s unclear when the Supreme Court may issue its decision, and the nine-member panel has not announced any future dates for when they plan to share opinions. 
Hundreds of companies have sued to preserve their rights to refunds –– should the country’s highest court find in favor of the plaintiffs. 
The total amount collected from the import duties is projected by Bloomberg to rise to $170 billion by Feb. 20. That is the same date that justices are slated to return to the bench following their four-week winter recess, suggesting that a decision regarding Trump’s tariffs on most of U.S. trading partners will not come out for at least two weeks. 
Kevin Hassett, the National Economic Council director, told Fox Business last month that the Trump administration was “highly confident” the Supreme Court will rule in its favor but also had a “backup plan that’s really solid” and includes imposing a 10% tariff “right away” as well as using other statutes. 
Trump has floated several uses for tariff revenue over the past few months, including paying down the national debt, which now stands at $38.56 trillion, as well as using the money to send $2,000 checks to Americans tariff dividend checks.
He was asked about the latter during an interview with NBC that aired Wednesday evening. 
“I’m looking at it very seriously,” Trump said. “I’m the only one that can do it because I’m taking in hundreds of billions of dollars of money.
“I can do that. I haven’t made the commitment yet, but I may make the commitment,” the president later added when asked if he could guarantee that some Americans would receive the checks.
Earlier this week, a regional bank head suggested that some companies have been absorbing added costs from tariffs and that higher prices on goods may be on the horizon. 
Richmond Fed president Tom Barkin said during a speech Tuesday morning he has spoken with about 75 businesses since the start of the year. 
“​​Many of those who were determined to pass on tariffs last spring now acknowledge their pricing power has been significantly constrained by customer pushback,” said Barkin, who heads the regional bank representing several southeastern states including Virginia. 
"In boardrooms around the country, sales and finance teams are debating how aggressively to increase prices, for example, in the context of increased tariff-driven input costs," he later added.

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