U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expects a substantial increase in tariff revenues from the $300 billion he forecast earlier this year, and said the money would be used to start paying down the sizeable U.S. federal debt.

Bessent, speaking in an interview on CNBC, declined to give a specific new revenue forecast, but said he and President Donald Trump were "laser-focused" on paying down the debt.

"I've been saying that tariff revenue could be $300 billion this year. I'm going to have to revise that up substantially," he said.