The following is the transcript of the interview with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, which aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on October 26, 2025.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We start this morning with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is traveling with President Trump. He joins us from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Good night to you.

SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY SCOTT BESSENT: Margaret, it’s a pleasure speaking with you.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You have been negotiating directly with the Chinese. You said that today it is possible that a truth has been reached. The threat on the table was a 155% tariff on China. The President said that would take effect on November 1. Is that off the table? What are the terms?

SECOND. BESSENT: Margaret, I think we had a very good two-day meeting. I think that would be a 100% addition to where we are now, and I think that’s effectively off the table. I’m not going to get ahead of the two leaders who will meet in Korea on Thursday, but I can tell you that we had a very good two days. So I would hope that the threat of 100% has disappeared, as has the threat of the immediate imposition of the Chinese starting a global export control regime.

MARGARET BRENNAN: That export control of rare earths, which are used in all kinds of electronics and automobiles. Will that be lifted?

SECOND. BESSENT: Well, it was never imposed, so they threatened to impose it in December, and President Trump, to give me and the trade team leverage, decided it would be a good idea to threaten an additional 100% tariff, and that gave us a lot of leverage. President Trump is very good at creating influence for us. This is the fourth meeting, sorry, the fifth meeting that we have had with the Chinese. My Chinese counterpart is Deputy Prime Minister He Lifeng, so we had a very good two days. We discussed a wide variety of topics, from rare earths, from rare earth magnets to trade, to substantial purchases of American agricultural products, to Chinese help in this fentanyl crisis we have in the US.

MARGARET BRENNAN: On buying American products. American farmers have been hit hard by China’s boycott of American soybeans that went into effect after the tariff war began. The administration is pumping at least $3 billion in financial aid into farmers to help them recover, or at least offset the pain. Can farmers expect to sell their soybeans to China again and when?

SECOND. BESSENT: Margaret, I’m not going to give you the details here, but I can tell you that soybean farmers will be extremely happy with this agreement for this year and for years to come.

MARGARET BRENNAN: A few weeks ago, there was a photographer who took a photo of you texting with the secretary of agriculture about this. He indicated concern about unintentional harm to American farmers over the financial lifeline the United States gave Argentina because that country was able to sell more to China, giving Beijing leverage over the United States. Is that leverage still a problem today?

SECOND. BESSENT: Well, first, first of all, Secretary Rollins’ text talked about a purchase of soybeans that the Chinese made and Margaret, those soybeans were always going to be purchased. They simply did it at a time when the Argentinians had lifted their export taxes. So those…those soybeans would always be on the market. It is a global market. The three main suppliers are Brazil, Argentina and the United States. And I think we have rebalanced the market and I think the Chinese will make substantial purchases again.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So you question the idea that the United States has harmed itself by giving this $20 billion lifeline to Argentina? Can you guarantee Americans that they will be compensated for that?

SECOND. BESSENT: Margaret, I can tell you that the Exchange Stabilization Fund has never lost money. This time you won’t lose money. And we are not giving money to Argentina. It is a line of exchange, which the United States has done many times in the past, and we have never lost money.

MARGARET BRENNAN: As for the Chinese, I saw you mentioned there was talk about TikTok. Are the details of the President’s Executive Order, published in September, finalized? Has China agreed to give up control of the algorithm that determines what users see?

SECOND. BESSENT: Margaret, we have reached a final agreement on TikTok. We reached a meeting in Madrid, and I believe that as of today all the details have been settled, and the two leaders will consummate that transaction on Thursday in Korea.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Can you tell us any details about that transaction?

SECOND. BESSENT: Margaret, I’m not part of the business side of the transaction. My job was to get the Chinese to agree to approve the transaction, and I think we’ve done that successfully over the last two days.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Over the last two days, has the United States made any concessions here beyond what we discussed with tariffs? Are they removing restrictions on exports of, for example, semiconductor chips, or restrictions on Chinese investment in the United States?

SECOND. BESSENT: There have been no changes to our export controls.

MARGARET BRENNAN: When Presidents Xi and Trump can speak on Thursday. Do you think the president’s standing here, his ability to negotiate a deal with China, will be hurt by the fact that he hasn’t been able to reach a deal here at home to reopen the U.S. government?

SECOND. BESSENT: Well, look, I don’t think it’s going to hurt, I don’t think it’s going to hurt. It is a global shame what these Democratic senators are doing, keeping the government closed. I mean, look at the numbers. They are 52-3, 52 Republican senators and three Democratic senators have crossed the line. So I think it’s a shame, it doesn’t affect his ability on the international stage. Now what does affect is beginning to affect the economy. It’s starting to slow down air traffic. And I urge moderate Democrats to be heroes, reach across the aisle, like they did in the spring, and pass a clean CR.

MARGARET BRENNAN: A continuing resolution just to fund the government without any supplement. Does that mean that when the President returns to the United States he will summon congressional leaders to the White House to end what you call the global shame?

SECOND. BESSENT: I ​​don’t know what the point is of summoning them to the White House. This is a Democrat led boycott and I’m just not sure what they are doing. What has changed between now and March other than Chuck Schumer’s poll numbers? And I think Hakeem Jeffries will now take the primary on the left, and I didn’t think there was much room there. So they’re both worried about their primaries, and not about the American people, not about government employees, not about our military employees, because we were able to pay military employees with surplus funds at the Pentagon, in the middle of this month. I think we will be able to pay them starting in November. But by November 15, our troops and service members who are willing to risk their lives will not be able to receive their pay. What a shame.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Got it. We’ll talk to Hakeem Jeffries later in the show. I want to ask you about what the President just announced regarding Canada. Today, the President said he wants to increase tariffs on Mexico. Yesterday he said he is going to increase tariffs on Canada by 10%. He blames what he called a fraudulent ad featuring Ronald Reagan defending free trade. It was presented by the province of Ontario. Is this announcement really the problem here or is it just a tactic in this negotiation? Does the president want the USMCA free trade agreement to be renegotiated, or is he looking to close two separate agreements, one with Canada and another with Mexico?

SECOND. BESSENT: There are a lot of questions there, Margaret, but let’s get to the first one. I have read that the province of Ontario is spending up to $75 million on these ads, and it is propaganda crossing our border to denounce the tariffs. So the Premier of Ontario seems to have gone off the rails a bit. You have removed the ads. But what is the purpose of this other than trying to influence American public opinion? We’ve seen… I’m sure you on your network have declared election interference. Well, this is interference in the sovereign affairs of the United States.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But is it really the premise for damaging negotiations with a major trading partner?

SECOND. BESSENT: Well, it’s clearly damaged our relationship with Canada’s most populous province.

MARGARET BRENNAN: When it comes to inflation here at home, the president said it has been defeated. But, as you know, that core inflation rose to 3% in September, less than expected and higher than August. But for people at home, prices remain high on furniture, energy, gardening, lawn care and clothing. Do you expect these things to cool down and when?

SECOND. BESSENT: Well, it’s cooling because the core inflation figure that you referenced was 0.2%, which is a decrease from the previous sequence of the previous months. And you listed things that are going up, but we’re seeing a lot of things going down, whether it’s energy and rents. Inflation is a compound number and I believe we are on a downward path towards lower inflation in the coming months.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Lower inflation, but not necessarily that Americans look around and things have gotten cheaper.

SECOND. BESSENT: Margaret, again, there’s affordability and then there’s inflation. So some of the things that can get cheaper, rent has gotten cheaper, mortgages have gotten cheaper. I think we’re at an 11 or 12 month low in mortgage rates.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Mr. Secretary, before I let you go, I want to ask you: The United States sanctioned Russia’s major oil and gas companies last week, but Vladimir Putin’s envoy, who is here in the United States, Kirill Dmitriev, I know you know him, said that the sanctions will have, quote, “no effect on Russia’s economy. They will simply lead to higher prices in the gas stations in the United States. Is Dmitriev wrong? And when will Russia really feel the pain?

SECOND. BESSENT: Well, I think Russia is going to feel the pain immediately. I can tell you that we have already seen that India has completely suspended purchases of Russian oil. Many of the Chinese refineries have stopped. And Margaret, are you really going to publish what a Russian propagandist says? I mean, what else is he going to say? That’s going to be terrible and it will bring Putin to the negotiating table. Of course, the Russian economy is a wartime economy. The growth is practically zero. I think inflation is over 20% and everything we do will bring Putin to the negotiating table. It is oil that finances the Russian war machine, and I believe we can substantially reduce its profits.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I understand, there were some competitive noises there, but to be clear, Dmitriev is in the United States because sanctions were lifted for him to hold meetings here, including with President Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff. When you say you’re a propagandist, does that mean we shouldn’t listen to anything you say?

SECOND. BESSENT: I- what do you think is going to happen to him if he comes home and says “good sir.” What if I had said on TV this is terrible? President Trump simply did the right thing. This is a maximum pressure campaign that will work. Margaret, what are you going to say? Of course, he’s going to say this. If you look at all the Russian talking points, they seem to use the word: we have immunized the economy against this. Well, they have not immunized the economy. Its oil profits are down 20% year over year. I suspect this could push them down another 20 or 30%. Once again, President Trump was criticized for not doing enough. He makes his bold move and then you’re quoting a Russian propagandist.

MARGARET BRENNAN: All right, we’ll leave it there, Mr. Secretary. I know you’ve had a long day. Thanks for your time.

SECOND. BESSENT: Thank you.

MARGARET BRENNAN: ‘Face the Nation’ will be back in a minute. Stay with us.