US Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent will speak at the New York Economic Club (ECNY) event held in New York, USA on Thursday, March 6, 2025. “The sanctions on Russia will be used explicitly and actively for the immediate maximum shock under President Donald Trump’s leadership,” Bescent said.
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent on Thursday provided a full call defense against the White House’s position on tariffs, arguing that trade policies should be close to the scope, not just to acquire low-cost items from other countries.
“Access to cheap products is not the essence of American dreams,” Bescent said in a speech to the economic club in New York. “The American Dream is rooted in the notion that any citizen can achieve prosperity, upward mobility and economic security. If it’s too long, designers of multilateral trade transactions have lost sight of this.”
The statement came in the marketplace about how far President Donald Trump will go to achieve his goals in global commerce. Shares fell sharply on Thursday despite news about some movement from the administration over Mexican imports.
In a speech delivered to the crowd of leading economists, Bescent showed that Trump is willing to take strong steps to achieve his trade targets.
“The US will respond as long as other countries’ practices do harm to our own economy and our people. This is America’s first trade policy,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Commerce Department data highlighted how much the US had fallen into a global trading partner. The imbalance swelled to a record $131.4 billion in January, up 34% from the previous month, almost doubled from a year ago.
“This system is not sustainable,” Bescent said.
Economists and market participants are worried that Trump’s tariffs will raise prices and slow growth. However, White House officials point out that tariffs were barely there to blow up inflation during Trump’s first term, and touting growth potential from reuse as businesses appear to not pay their duties.
“Across the continuum, I’m not worried about inflation,” Bescent said. He added that Trump believes tariffs have three benefits. As a source of income in which the US operates a massive fiscal deficit, as a way to protect industries and workers from unfair practices around the world, and as “trees” as “trees” as Trump uses it for negotiations.
Thursday’s speech was hosted by Larry Kudlow, head of the National Economic Council, during Trump’s first term.
In addition to discussing tariffs, the two chatted about deregulation on the troublesome debt and deficit burdens facing the government. The deficit exceeds 6% in its share of gross domestic product, so the budget is $840 billion in the first four months of fiscal 2025, at a level essentially unprecedented in a peacetime expansion economy.
“It’s the last chance bar and grill to get this done,” Bescent said of imposing financial discipline. “Everyone knows what they should do. Is it they willing to do that?”
Bessent also advocated a deep investigation into banking regulations, particularly for smaller institutions.
As Bessent said, stocks added to the losses in what had been a tough week for Wall Street.
“The great thing about Wall Street is that Wall Street can keep going well, but this administration is about Main Street,” he said.
