Sitting in a bland conference hall in Washington last week, Scott Bessent presented an unabashed defence of America’s trade policies in his first face-to-face meetings with G20 counterparts.
According to those present at the dinner, on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings, the Treasury secretary portrayed President Donald Trump’s approach as part of a clear and masterful blueprint to rebalance the global economy – and by no means the chaotic muddle of U-turns that officials elsewhere in the world perceive.
