WASHINGTON (TNND) — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is urging other countries to not retaliate against President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs and to "take a deep breath."

"Everybody sit back, take a deep breath, don't immediately retaliate. Let's see where this goes, because if you retaliate, that's how we get escalation," Bessent said in an interview with CNN's Kaitlin Collins.

Trump announced a 10% baseline tariff Wednesday from the White House Rose Garden, along with retaliatory tariffs on some of the countries closest allies.

Some of the most notable tariffs include an additional 34% on China, 20% on the European Union, 24% on Japan and 32% on Taiwan. He also announced that a 25% tariff would go into effect at midnight on all foreign-made automobiles.

Canada and Mexico are missing from the list for now due to the trilateral free trade agreement between the countries.

"This is one of the most important days, in my opinion, in American history. It's our declaration of economic independence," Trump told the crowd.

The 10% baseline tariff will go into effect on Saturday and reciprocal tariffs are set to begin on April 9.

"Remember the history of trade, we are the deficit country. The deficit country has an advantage," Bessent explained. "The are the surplus countries, the surplus countries traditionally always lose and kind of trade escalations. As a professor of economic history, I advise against it."