US Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent participated in the New York Economic Club event held in New York City, USA on March 6, 2025.
Gina Moon | Reuters
Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent on Friday confirmed signs of weakness in the US economy.
“Can we certainly see that this economy, which we have begun to roll a bit, has inherited? And look, there will be a natural adjustment as we move from public spending to private spending,” Bescent told CNBC’s “Scoebox.”
“The markets and the economy were just crazy. We’re obsessed with this government spending and we’ll have a detox period,” he added.
To explain that it is inheriting the economy is a reference to the administration under then President Joe Biden. Currently President Donald Trump took office on January 20th.
Under Biden, the US generally saw strong economic growth. However, there were signs of slowing down in the second half of 2024, with inflation exceeding the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.
In the first few months, the Trump administration restructured its global trade policy and took steps to reduce the federal workforce. Confidence has declined in consumer surveys, but there was not much difficult economic data reflecting Trump’s terminology.
The February employment report was released after Bessent’s comments, showing that unemployment rates could range from 4.0% to as high as 4.1%. According to Dow Jones, the economy added 151,000 jobs that month.
One area where Trump’s policies are felt quickly is tariffs. The president hit tariffs by inaugurating Canada, Mexico and China in nearly the first two months, but Canada and Mexico’s efforts have a long list of exemptions. The administration is expected to implement wider tariffs in April.
“Taxes are a one-off price adjustment,” Bessent said, opposing the idea that tariffs promote continued inflation.
Bescent also said the administration has “lol prices and mortgage fees” in areas where costs have been declining since Trump took office.
