Tariffs will help position US as the ‘home of global capital’ says Scott Bessent

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says tariffs must be seen as part of a bigger plan - along with tax cuts and deregulation efforts - to drive long-term investment into America.

US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent at the Milken Institute Global Conference. Picture: AFP.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says Donald Trump’s economic policies - including his trade, tax cut and deregulation agendas - are aimed at championing America as the “home of global capital” and boosting domestic production.

Speaking at the Milken Institute Global Conference, Mr Bessent said the administration's plans to impose tariffs, slash red tape and deliver tax cuts formed part of a bigger picture and were “interlocking parts of an engine designed to drive long-term investment in the American economy.”

Fine tuning his pitch to wealthy investors, Mr Bessent argued there was more sophistication to the Trump economic platform than a simple return to protectionism. He said ‘America First’ was a “blueprint for a more abundant world.”

One day after the US President proposed a 100 per cent tariff on all movies made outside of the US, Mr Bessent said that tariffs were engineered to encourage companies to “invest directly in the United States.”

“Hire your workers here. Build your factories here. Make your products here,” he told a crowd of leading US figures in business, finance and government. “You’ll be glad you did—not only because we have the most productive workforce in the world. But because we will soon have the most favourable tax and regulatory environment as well.”

Mr Bessent said the US was “very close” to finalising trade deals and that some could be secured “as early as this week.”

The tariffs had to be seen in the context of the administration’s push to fast-track federal approval processes for new energy and construction projects “from several years to just a few months” as well as ensuring lower taxes for businesses.

“The President’s signature tax legislation will prevent an enormous tax hike on Main Street by making the small business deduction permanent,” he said. “It will also provide tax credits and deductions for research and innovation to stimulate investment in hi-tech operations. And it will restore 100 per cent expensing for equipment while expanding that incentive to new factory construction.”

The deregulation agenda would unleash a “building renaissance” to be fuelled by the President’s energy dominance agenda. This would “unleash the creative potential of America’s builders” and allow business leaders to put “capital to work as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

“I hope you can see the bigger picture now,” Mr Bessent said. “The Trump economic agenda is more than the sum of its parts. Trade, tax cuts, and deregulation may be three distinct policies. But each policy is mutually reinforcing. And acting in concert, they push toward the same goal—to solidify our position as the home of global capital.”

The comments from Mr Bessent follow a nine-day streak of gains posted by the S&P500 which rose about 10 per cent, erasing the losses that followed Mr Trump’s announcement of his sweeping Liberation Day tariffs. It is now down only 3.3 per cent of the year.

Mr Bessent said the US President had secured more investment for America in 100 days than President Biden did during his four year term.

“Entrepreneurs, too, are starting to understand what the President is trying to accomplish,” he said. “March saw one of the highest levels ever recorded for new business applications.”

Mr Bessent said one mantra had long acted as a guide for the world’s most successful investors: “Never bet against America.”

He said that US markets were “anti-fragile” and that “each time the American economy gets knocked down, it gets back up again.”

“And it gets back up even stronger than it was before.”

Speaking to CNBC after his address, Mr Bessent said that Washington was aiming to return growth to “something that looks like three per cent” by this time next year. He made clear the US was “very close” to finalising trade deals, noting that some could be secured “maybe as early as this week.”

Putting China to one side, Mr Bessent said the US had already received 17 “very good” proposals from key trading partners and Mr Trump was involved in all of those discussions.

“At the end of this, even if we have tariffs still in place, because the non-tariff trade barriers are coming down, because we can see an end to some of the currency manipulation, (and) the unfair subsidy of labour and capital from the other countries, we could see more frictionless trade,” he said. “The goal is to open the foreign markets and then bring back manufacturing to the US.”

On China, Mr Bessent said that he hoped to see “substantial progress” in reaching a deal with Beijing in the coming weeks. “We’re reading every day what’s happening with factories in China,” he said.

During his address, Mr Bessent said that “obviously in this trade puzzle, China is the biggest piece.”

Mr Bessent said it was possible to achieve a “big beautiful rebalancing” with Beijing, where the US ramped up production and China ramped up consumption. “We could actually do that together,” he said.

With the WSJ