Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told bankers on Wednesday morning — as markets responded poorly to President Donald Trump’s steep new tariffs — that the economy is just fine.
“There is a little uncertainty,” Bessent said during his appearance at the American Bankers Association’s 2025 summit. “But in general, the companies that I’ve spoken to, the people who have come, the CEOs who have come into Treasury, tell me the economy is very solid. We got very good jobs numbers last Friday. I think that we are in pretty good shape.”
Bessent also leaned into the possibility of striking new trade deals with other countries. He said the tariff levels Trump announced last week are “a ceiling,” if countries choose not to retaliate.
“We have about 70 negotiations lined up,” Bessent said, adding that he will take “a lead negotiating role.”
“I’m not planning on going anywhere for Easter,” he joked.
China has retaliated with tariffs on American goods, leading Trump to slap even more tariffs on products from China. Many Chinese imports now face a 104% tariff rate.
Jamieson Greer, Trump’s trade representative, told senators on Tuesday that he is also involved in negotiations, but he emphasized those talks would take time.
“The trade deficit has been decades in the making, and it’s not going to be solved overnight,” Greer said. He is scheduled to testify before the House Ways and Means Committee Wednesday morning.
Lawmakers have sought clarity from the administration on Trump’s strategy. Negotiating with 70 countries all at once is a major undertaking. Bessent on Wednesday didn’t offer much clarity, instead presenting a convoluted path toward ultimately challenging China, which he said is the biggest offender in the global trading system.
“We can probably reach a deal with our allies, with the other countries that have been long-term, good military allies, not perfect economic allies,” Bessent said. “And then we can approach China as a group.”
Targeting America’s close trading partners instead of focusing on China raised hackles among lawmakers during Trump’s first term, when the president slapped tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.
“I went to the U.S. Military Academy,” Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio told NOTUS earlier this year. “Every military academy on the planet would say some version of: ‘You’re more likely to win any conflict if you multiply your allies than if you multiply your enemies.’”
“Why put tariffs on everybody all at once,” Davidson said, “when we could actually build a coalition to go after China?”
But most House Republicans, including Davidson, are now standing behind Trump during his new trade war. “The number of countries that are reaching out saying, ‘Hey, you know, you’re right, we have been unfair. Let’s renegotiate,’ I think is a very encouraging development,” Davidson told NOTUS on Tuesday.
A small group of House Republicans is working on legislation to subject new tariffs to congressional review, but their effort has slim odds as GOP leaders are firmly in Trump’s corner.
Trump has pushed back on any criticism from lawmakers.
“I know what the hell I’m doing,” he told congressional Republicans on Tuesday night, hours before the new tariffs went into force.
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Haley Byrd Wilt is a reporter at NOTUS.