U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said some countries may avoid the new U.S. tariffs that will take effect on April 2 if they agree to stop their unfair trade practices.

Bessent made the remarks Tuesday in a Fox Business interview, laying out U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans for the reciprocal tariffs. 

The treasury secretary said that on April 2, Washington will present its trading partners with numbers. 

Bessent said the U.S. will propose U.S. tariff rates for its trading partners based on their own rates as well as factors such as nontariff barriers, currency manipulation, unfair funding and labor suppression, and will offer opportunities to negotiate to avoid a “tariff wall.”

He added that if the countries stop the practices, the U.S. will not put up the tariff wall.

Bessent said the new tariffs could be low for some countries and high for others.

He said the Trump administration is eyeing what he called the “Dirty 15,”  the 15 percent of countries that have the highest tariffs on U.S. goods and large trading volumes with the U.S., but he didn’t name them.

The U.S. trade deficit with South Korea amounted to some 66 billion dollars in 2024, the eighth-largest trade deficit the U.S. posted that year.