U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that Scott Bessent has declined consideration for the Federal Reserve chairmanship, while praising "the two Kevins" - Kevin Warsh and Kevin Hassett - as "very good" candidates for the position.
In a CNBC interview, Trump reiterated his criticism of current Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for cutting interest rates "too late" and mentioned that he had "two other candidates besides the two Kevins" under consideration.
The president warned he would impose 35% tariffs on EU goods if the bloc "does not live up to its obligations," following trade deals the US has reached with the EU and Japan.
Trump also revealed plans to announce tariff levels on pharmaceuticals and semiconductor chips "within the next week." He said pharmaceutical tariffs would start small but "could eventually be as high as 250%," specifically mentioning that "Switzerland makes enormous profits from its pharmaceutical industry."
Regarding international trade, Trump called India "the country with the highest tariffs" and "has not been a good trading partner," and said he "will significantly increase tariffs on India in the next 24 hours."
The US President also claimed that "labor statistics are very politicized" and reiterated the accusation that labor statistics are "manipulated."