On Thursday at midnight, steep retaliatory tariffs Donald Trump slapped on dozens of countries went into effect. “IT’S MIDNIGHT!!! BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN TARIFFS ARE NOW FLOWING INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!” the president wrote on Truth Social minutes before the levies snapped into effect.

Hours later, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared on MSNBC, where he was gently coaxed into admitting that while the government might rake in plenty from the new taxes, American businesses and consumers are the ones paying the penalties.

Bessent first stated that tariffed Brazilian imports could simply be replaced with “substitutes” from other nations, before being pressed by Robinson to clarify “who writes the check to the Treasury,” if the product does come from a tariffed nation like Brazil.

“Well, the check is written to the person who receives it at the dock, in the U.S.” Bessent replied.

“The check is written by the person, the receiver. So the tariff is paid in this country by the importer. Is that right?” Robinson pressed. Bessent then said that the exporter could lower their price to retain market share. Robinson pressed again: “But the check is written by the importer, at the dock?

“Yep,” Bessent said. “And the importer can pass it on or not.”