US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: ‘We are set on bringing interest rates down’

United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the government is set on bringing rates down. He reprimanded China’s business model, saying it is centered on exports, which is unacceptable in his country. 

In a Fox News interview, United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed that the government is set on lowering interest rates. The US dollar remains under selling pressure even after the government official’s statement. 

Bessent says the government is set on bringing rates down

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressed his optimism about President Donald Trump’s plans to impose tariffs on foreign nations. Bessent commented on the stock markets as investors reacted to Trump’s implementation of the tariffs on Tuesday against Mexico and Canada. 

JUST IN: 🇺🇸 US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says, "We're set on bringing interest rates down." pic.twitter.com/1E64nwl50V

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Bessent highlighted that Wall Street had done well and it would continue doing great. He, however, noted that they had to focus on small businesses and consumers. 

The Treasury Secretary insisted that they had to rebalance the economy to achieve this. Bessent argued there would be a transitional period that would last two months after the tariff’s implementation. He suggested it would only last briefly as China’s manufacturers would absorb the tariffs.  

The government official added that China’s model was unacceptable and mainly centered around exports. Bessent argued that the market selloff was temporary and that the prices would not increase in the long term. He reiterated that with Canada and Mexico, the US economy was in the middle of a transition, noting that Honda’s move to Indiana was a great start. 

On Tuesday, Trump implemented his trade tariffs against Mexico and Canada, imposing 25% taxes on all imports. The president revealed the tariffs were meant to force the two US neighbor states to curb fentanyl trafficking and immigration. 

Trump noted that he wanted to eliminate America’s trade imbalances and encourage more factories to relocate to the country. The US stock market responded to his announcement on Monday, with the S&P 500 index registering a 2% decline.  

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick expressed his optimism on the tariffs, noting that they could boost US manufacturing and attract foreign investment. He said that computer chipmaker TSMC had expanded its investment in the US due to the 25% tariffs. 

In February, Trump announced that he would impose an additional 10% tariff on imports from China, double the 20% tariff imposed on the country’s goods in January.  

The president delayed the implementation of the tariffs for a month, citing concessions from Canada and Mexico. Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed Trump’s statement, saying they were implementing measures to curb immigration and trafficking on its borders. 

Economists warn Trump’s tariffs could disrupt businesses 

On Monday, Trump announced that there was “no more room” for Mexico and Canada to evade the tariffs. Trudeau commented there was no justification for Trump’s tariffs since US citizens would also pay more for gas and groceries. 

He added that Americans could also lose thousands of jobs as a result. The prime minister insisted the tariffs would disrupt the trading relationship between the countries and violate the trade agreement negotiated by Trump in his last term.

Trudeau announced that Canada would also impose a 25% trade tariff on American goods worth $155 billion Canadian ($107 billion) in the next 21 days. He added that the country would begin with tariffs on goods worth $30 billion. Bessent highlighted that Mexico had offered to impose 20% taxes on all imports from China during its negotiations with the US.

Eswar Prasad, an economist at Cornell University, commented that the tariffs would disrupt businesses in terms of their supply chains and their ability to conduct their operations effectively. He predicted inflationary impacts that would be disruptive in the long run.   

Trump also announced he planned to introduce reciprocal tariffs in April to match the rate charged by other countries, including any subsidies and VAT. 

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