US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s defense of President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs as a step toward “rebalancing” the US economy misses the point. While some economies, like China and Germany, need to increase domestic spending, the US needs to increase national saving.
NEW YORK – US President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff policy has stimulated important debates over rebalancing the US economy at home and in the global economic order. In remarks before the Economic Club of New York on March 6, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered a window on the Trump administration’s economic-policy approach to “rebalancing” and re-privatizing America’s economy. Bessent also observed, as has Trump, that the “detox period” as the economy reduces its dependence on federal spending may require short-term “pain” to deliver longer-term gain.
NEW YORK – US President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff policy has stimulated important debates over rebalancing the US economy at home and in the global economic order. In remarks before the Economic Club of New York on March 6, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered a window on the Trump administration’s economic-policy approach to “rebalancing” and re-privatizing America’s economy. Bessent also observed, as has Trump, that the “detox period” as the economy reduces its dependence on federal spending may require short-term “pain” to deliver longer-term gain.