Tariff Revenues to Rise 'Substantially', to Be Used to Pare Debt, Says Bessent

Claims India's Richest Families Are Profiteering From Russian Oil Purchases

- AGENCIES

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expects a substantial increase in tariff revenues from the $300 billion he forecast earlier this year, and said the money would be used to start paying down the sizeable US federal debt.

Bessent, speaking in an interview on CNBC, declined to give a specific new revenue forecast, but said he and President Donald Trump were "laser-focused" on paying down the debt. "I've been saying that tariff revenue could be $300 billion this year. I'm going to have to revise that up substantially," he said.

Bessent also claimed some of the "richest families in India" benefited from the purchase of Russian crude oil, while reiterating plans to boost tariffs on the South Asian nation.