U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant [AP Yonhap News]

Scott Bessant, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, announced on the 4th (local time) that the "global tariffs" newly imposed by the Donald Trump administration on various countries are scheduled to be increased from 10% to 15% this week.

Appearing on CNBC, Secretary Bessant stated that the increase in global tariffs, as foreshadowed by President Trump, "will likely be sometime this week."

Bessant added, "During those 150 days (of global tariff imposition), we will see studies on Section 301 from the USTR (Office of the United States Trade Representative) and tariffs under Section 232 from the Department of Commerce."

President Trump signed a proclamation imposing a 10% global tariff, which took effect on the 24th of last month, after the Supreme Court ruled that imposing reciprocal tariffs based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) was illegal. The proclamation was issued under Section 122 of the Trade Act.

President Trump had previously announced his intention to raise global tariffs to the maximum rate permitted by law, 15%, and planned to conduct investigations for imposing country-specific tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act and item-specific tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act during this period.

According to Secretary Bessant's remarks, President Trump is expected to sign a proclamation to increase the global tariffs to 15% in the near future.

Bessant emphasized that the Section 301 tariffs, imposed due to unfair trade practices, and the Section 232 tariffs, imposed after assessing threats to national security, "are slower to move (than previous reciprocal tariffs) but are more robust."

He strongly believes that "within five months (150 days), the tariff rates will return to pre-(Supreme Court ruling) levels."

In response to a question about whether the U.S. employment situation is slowing down, Bessant replied that it is due to "a large net decrease in the government sector (due to civil servant restructuring) last year" and the "impact of 2.5 million undocumented immigrants leaving the labor market."

He further stated that improvements in labor productivity are "achieved through job growth in the private sector, not the government," and predicted that private sector employment growth will continue, starting with construction jobs due to a "capital expenditure boom, followed by factory jobs."

Meanwhile, before the broadcast ended, Bessant wanted to deliver a "final message" and claimed that the U.S.-Israel war situation against Iran is "progressing very well."

Bessant pointed out that "Iran made the mistake of dragging our Gulf allies into this fight."

This refers to Iran's attacks on Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait, where U.S. military bases are located, in response to U.S.-Israel airstrikes.

On the 1st, the foreign ministers of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, including the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait, held a video conference to condemn Iran's "treacherous attacks" and discussed military responses.