Bessent defends Trump tariffs: American dream doesn't mean access to 'cheap goods'

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended President Trump’s global trade tariffs on Thursday at the Economic Club of New York, explaining that the Trump administration's "America First trade policy" involves more than low prices.

“Access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American dream. The American dream is rooted in the concept that any citizen can achieve prosperity, upward mobility and economic security,” he said.

“For too long, the designers of multilateral trade deals have lost sight of this. International economic relations that do not work for the American people must be reexamined.”

The newly minted Treasury Department leader said the president will restructure trade relationships in an “aggressive campaign” to rebalance the international economic system.

“To the extent that another country’s practices harm our own economy and people, the United States will respond. This is the America First trade policy,” said Bessent.

“We are identifying bad actors across a range of criteria — not just tariffs applied to our exports, but non-tariffs barriers, laws which unfairly apply fines to our exporters, government policies which undercut global competition and suppress wages, and currency manipulation that enables persistent trade surpluses.”

The Trump administration aims to analyze economic policies with allies and adversaries alike to recoup on what the administration considers unfair agreements and boost domestic production.

During a follow-up Q&A with Fox Business Network commentator Larry Kudlow, Bessent said Trump “believes three things. One, that it [tariffs] is a good source of revenues. Two, it protects our important industries and the employees. And three, he's added a third leg to the stool, and he uses it for negotiating."

On Tuesday, Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico and an additional 10 percent tariff on China. On Thursday, the president offered exemptions to certain imports on the North American tariffs for a month. Economists have warned that higher levies could impact consumer prices to the detriment of Americans.

However, Trump said the blow will be “worth the price that must be paid,” while Bessent said tariffs could be a “one-time price adjustment.”

Bessent also warned that the U.S. will work to craft crippling sanctions on Iran.

“In the past, I’ve said and written that economic security is national security. Nowhere is this more evident than the U.S. Treasury’s sanctions actions,” Bessent said.

Bessent said the U.S. would close off Iran’s access to the international financial system by targeting its oil supply chain at all stages.

“Making Iran broke again will mark the beginning of our updated sanctions policy. Watch this space,” Bessent said.

“If economic security is national security, the regime in Tehran will have neither.”

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