Treasury secretary says ‘we will see’ about $2,000 rebate checks to Americans as Supreme Court weighs Trump’s tariffs

By Auzinea Bacon, CNN

(CNN) — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that President Donald Trump’s proposal to issue $2,000 tariff rebate checks to most Americans would require Congress’ approval.

“We will see. We need legislation for that,” Bessent said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” when asked about rebate checks, adding that “Those could go out.”

Trump has repeatedly suggested using tariffs to fund rebate checks in recent months, including in a Truth Social post last weekend. “People that are against Tariffs are FOOLS! … A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone,” he wrote. Trump first floated the idea of Americans potentially receiving a portion of the tariff revenue in July.

The payments would be “for working families” and would have an income limit, Bessent said Sunday.

But the Supreme Court could strike down a large chunk of Trump’s tariffs when it decides on the president’s use of an emergency law. The court appeared deeply concerned earlier this month with Trump’s reliance on the law, with several conservative justices picking apart the administration’s position.

The tariffs have faced scrutiny for contributing to higher inflation on consumer goods, though Bessent and others in Trump’s economic team have denied that tariffs are essentially a tax on American consumers.

“I don’t think this ruling is going to go against us, but if it does, what’s (the Supreme Court’s) plan for refunds? Because how is this going to get to consumers? Are they just going to hand some of these importers big windfalls?” Bessent said Sunday.

“I don’t think the Supreme Court wants to wade into a mess like that,” Bessent added.

A trade agreement with China

The United States has yet to sign a trade deal with China on rare-earth minerals, which are essential to making consumer electronics and military equipment, after months of trade tensions between the two sides.

Bessent said a deal will “hopefully” be done by Thanksgiving after a framework agreement was announced in October. That agreement averted additional 100% tariffs that the US threatened on Chinese goods, but only if Beijing ends current and proposed export controls on critical rare earths.

Bessent said Sunday that the agreement would allow rare earths to “flow freely as they did before April 4,” when the trade war kicked off due to Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs.

Bessent says shutdown set back economy

The longest government shutdown in US history came to an end Wednesday after Congress narrowly passed a spending package.

“Of course the government shutdown set us back,” Bessent said Sunday.

Bessent did not say whether he expected a weak GDP for the fourth quarter.

The first two quarters of 2026, though, will see inflation down and the real income curve “substantially accelerate,” Bessent said.

“When those two lines cross, Americans are going to feel it,” he said.

More expensive groceries leading into the holidays

The Trump administration on Friday announced that many agricultural imports would be exempt from “reciprocal” tariffs instead of rates as high as 50% on imports from Brazil or the lowest 10% duty imposed on many other countries, potentially providing a solution to rising grocery costs.

Average grocery prices in the US were 2.7% higher in September compared with last year. Coffee prices, for instance, were up nearly 21% year-over-year in August, and bananas were about 6.6% more expensive in August than they were a year ago.

“The prices for those goods weren’t necessarily going up just because of tariffs,” National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “The prices will go down, of course … because the supply of goods into the US is going to increase.”

The consumer sentiment index fell to 50.3 this month from 53.6 in October, according to the University of Michigan — a sobering sign leading into the holiday season.

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CNN’s Elisabeth Buchwald, John Liu and Daniel Dale contributed to this report.