Treasury Secretary Says Proposed $2,000 Tariff Rebate Could Have Income Limit

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday provided more details about a potential $2,000 tariff-derived dividend that was floated by President Donald Trump on Sunday and Monday, suggesting there would be an income limit.

“Well, there are a lot of options here that the president’s talking about a $2,000 rebate and those—that would be for families making less than, say, $100,000,” Bessent told “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday when he was asked about the proposed dividend payment.

When pressed on whether the Trump administration has decided on a limit, he said that “we haven’t” and that “it’s in discussion.”

The Treasury secretary said that other measures already taken by the Trump administration, including reducing taxes on overtime and tips, would kick in early next year, as well as moves to boost domestic manufacturing through foreign investment.

“Real wages are going to increase,” Bessent told the outlet. “I would expect in the first quarter, second quarter of next year. … American people are going to start feeling better.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Bessent said that the White House is looking to change trade policies on certain food items, such as coffee and bananas, to ease pricing concerns as inflation has remained relatively sticky throughout the Trump administration.

When asked about recent comments from Trump about lowering tariffs on coffee producers Vietnam and Brazil, Bessent told Fox News, “It’s tough to do a lot of specific things, but I can tell you … you’re going to see some specific announcements in coming days in terms of things we don’t grow here in the United States, coffee, coffee being one of them, bananas, other fruits, things like that.”

The United States grows bananas in Hawaii and Florida, but commercial production is limited, and most bananas are imported from countries where labor is cheaper and land costs are lower.

“Coffee, we’re going to lower some tariffs,” Trump told Fox News host Laura Ingraham in an interview aired this week.

Besides floating the prospect of giving households rebate checks funded by tariffs, Trump has also floated the idea of a 50-year mortgage to deal with high prices.

Bessent did not address the 50-year mortgage idea in Wednesday’s interview.

On Sunday, Trump commented on criticism of tariffs as the Supreme Court heard arguments last week on the key economic policy, suggesting that dividend payments could be made.

“People that are against tariffs are fools! We are now the richest, most respected country in the world, with almost no inflation, and a record stock market price. 401k’s are highest ever. We are taking in trillions of dollars and will soon begin paying down our enormous debt,” Trump wrote on Truth Social before proposing the dividend for those who are not high earners.

A day later, the president again praised the tariffs on Truth Social and floated the $2,000 dividend, while saying those duties could pay down the U.S. national debt.

Speaking to ABC News on Sunday, Bessent said that the proposed dividend could come in the form of tax cuts, including the aforementioned policies that eliminate taxes on tips or overtime.

In February, Trump floated an idea of providing a payment through savings initiated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), although there has been very little talk about it since then.

“There’s even under consideration a new concept, where we give 20 percent of the DOGE savings to American citizens, and 20 percent goes to paying down debt,” he said at a Miami investment conference in February.

Reuters contributed to this report.