US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent insists that economic security starts at home, driven by construction and financing industries such as semiconductors and AI. He says these are sources of national strength and the US must lead in each area.
Secretary of the Treasury Scott Besant On Tuesday, he described the Trump administration’s handling of the country’s economy in a speech in which he outlined five core principles guiding the White House’s strategy.
Bessent spoke Tuesday night at the Economic Club of New York America 250 gala dinner and said that as the nation celebrates that historic event, it behooves Americans to “think about the creation of our country, but not less, than its form.”
He said that as America shaped the post-war world order, it made decisions that created paralysis that led to strategic industries and important supply chains moving overseas, and exposing US firms to unfair competition from abroad.
“We have encouraged other countries to use our dependence as a basis. And correcting that imbalance with the world is not a retreat from it. On the contrary, it is to engage in the principles that make America strong. It is to emphasize fair, balanced trade, and in line with our national interests,” said Bessent. “And it’s tying too closely together what we shouldn’t have allowed to separate: our economic and national security.”
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlined the Trump administration’s core economic policies at the Economic Club of New York. (Krisanne Johnson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Besent discussed five important principles of The Trump administration how to do economic things. Here’s a breakdown of the key points from each.
National power
Bessent said the modern economy requires the US to take a leadership role in areas ranging from semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing, to advanced manufacturing, precious minerals and pharmaceuticals.
He also added that in the modern economy, “buying chains are the domain where that leadership is tested, which requires that the strength of those supply chains be looked at.”
“It’s true, the strength of the supply chain does not require all parts to be at home from the beginning to the end. That would be unrealistic and unnecessary. But it forces us to know where our weaknesses are and reduce them before the problem appears,” said Bessent. “It needs to be separated from dangerous areas.”
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US needs to lead on key economic issues. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Fair trade
Bessent said the US is “the best economic partner in the world” because of the depth and strength of its markets, dollar rule and innovation across the economy – although he said those benefits are unconditional for US trading partners.
“Countries cannot demand access to our market while denying proper access to their own,” he explained while criticizing discriminatory tariffs, industrial policies, transfer of intellectual property and attempts to avoid sanctions.
He said that although the US and other countries alike have the right to regulate in ways that serve their public interests, there is a clear difference between that and the discrimination against American firms that the administration wants to correct.
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US economic leadership
Bessent said that the next period of economic competition it will be more complicated and that failure to lead efforts to help write the rules of the new economy could allow authoritarian or mercantilist agendas to create a global economy “that will be more coercive and inconsistent with American interests.”
“If America and our partners set open, secure, market-based standards, then the economy of the 21st century will lean toward freedom and prosperity by rewarding innovation, protecting intellectual property, and ensuring that competition is not distorted by discrimination,” he said.
Besent said the Trump administration wants to connect national economic strength with domestic prosperity. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Financial leadership
Bessent noted the role of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency and how it is based on “the depth of our markets, the strength of our law, the credibility of our institutions, and the quality of our economy.”
That gave the US “huge benefits” from low, deep borrowing costs large markets and more influence on the global financial system – but also imposes obligations to reduce things like sanctions avoidance, terrorist financing, cybercrime and corruption.
“The task of the Treasury is to protect the integrity of the financial system by eliminating these abuses – and to use this power in the right way. Sanctions must be targeted, enforced, and linked to strategies,” he said, adding that it requires the cooperation of officials and partners to ensure compliance.
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To bring home prosperity
Besent said “the American mission statecraft in economics connecting national strength and domestic prosperity,” he said, showing “an economy where our working families are not just consumers of what the world produces, but participants in what America is building.”
“America’s competitive advantage has never been limited to the abundance of our natural resources or the depth of our capital markets,” he said.
“It has always been in the character and strength of our people; an entrepreneur who has the courage to turn an idea into a business, a worker with the ability to know new trades and new technologies that did not exist ten years ago, and institutions that allow their freedom and self-confidence to flourish,” explained Bessent.
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He said the American people “can expect a policy that rewards work, investment, productivity and innovation. Leadership that understands that the power of production is power. The success of an economy is not measured by what it produces, but by who raises it.”
