SANTA MONICA, Calif. — US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is making his pitch to nervous international investors. 

"We have uprooted government waste and harmful regulations. We have planted the seeds of private investment. And we have fertilized the ground with fresh tax legislation. Next, we harvest. And we want you to harvest with us," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in prepared remarks to a packed house of CEOs and investors at the Milken Institute Global Conference on Monday.

"America is the Schelling point of global finance. We have the world’s reserve currency, the deepest and most liquid markets, and the strongest property rights. For these reasons, the United States is the premier destination for international capital. And the administration’s goal is to make it even more appealing for investors like you," he continued.  

On April 9, the Trump administration announced a 90-day pause on all reciprocal tariffs except for those on goods from China. Tariffs on one of the US's most important trading partners now stand at 145% — a 125% reciprocal tariff and the 20% Trump previously levied.

Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet

A 10% across-the-board duty is still being applied to all other imports.

The administration further refined its tariff plans on April 11.

The White House issued a rule that spared smartphones, computers, semiconductors, and other electronics from reciprocal tariffs, especially the harsher tariffs on Chinese goods. US Customs and Border Protection said the goods would be excluded from Trump's 10% global tariff and the 125% reciprocal Chinese tariffs. However, the 20% fentanyl tariff on Chinese goods still applies.

The administration said it's eyeing a tariff on semiconductors, but no plans have been disclosed. 

On May 2, a loophole known as the de minimis exemption was closed by the administration. Since 2016, items worth $800 or less could be imported into the US without the recipients paying tariffs or filing paperwork normally reserved for purchases of foreign goods. 

Meanwhile, tech giant Apple (AAPL) said on an earnings call last week that Trump's tariffs would increase its costs by $900 million.

Leaders are concerned that the tariff policy is hurting the perception of investing in America.

"What we've done — and I'm not saying what the administration wants to do is wrong, I actually believe what they want to do in terms of resetting our trade relations with the world is the right thing to do — but the way it's being done in the short term, we introduced uncertainty," Apollo Global Management (APO) Marc Rowan told Yahoo Finance today at the Milken conference. "And in the long term, we actually damage the US brand by just moving in a nonchoreographed way. We've given people a reason to think about whether their money is in fact safe here."

(Disclosure: Yahoo Finance is owned by Apollo Global Management.)

Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram and on LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.

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