Good morning. Andrew here. On Wednesday, I sat down with Scott Bessent, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, at the DealBook Summit. We talked about everything from tariffs to the Federal Reserve to China — and a lot more. Below, we’ve got a rundown of some of the highlights from that discussion. Over the coming days, we’ll be sending you emails with highlights and takeaways from the interviews. You can also watch all of my conversations from the Summit on YouTube or listen to them as podcasts. (Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here.)
What Scott Bessent said at the DealBook SummitPerhaps none of the Trump administration’s policies have rocked the business world quite like the president’s global trade war. At the DealBook Summit on Wednesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent vehemently defended President Trump’s broad use of tariffs. When Bessent was still a hedge fund manager, before he became treasury secretary, he expressed skepticism about the use of tariffs. But on Wednesday, he acknowledged that his position had changed. “I’ve had an open mind, and I’ve evolved on this, and the president’s been right,” he said. Bessent said the tariffs — which are at risk of being struck down in a Supreme Court case that challenges their legality — are leading trading partners to open their markets to the United States and are not causing widespread inflation. The treasury secretary also commented on the U.S. relationship with Taiwan, the trade truce with China, the Federal Reserve and so-called Trump accounts. Here are four highlights from the conversation, which you can watch here. On tariffsBessent said that while he had once favored incremental tariffs, he now found the larger tariffs introduced by Trump to be a more effective negotiating tool: The president went in with a maximalist position. And that is actually what gave us the leverage in the negotiations by saying, OK, you’ve got a 35 percent tariff. When Japan agrees to a 15 percent tariff, you know, it’s domo arigato. You know, it’s thank you. In October, Bank of America analysts wrote, “We think there’s no debate — tariffs have pushed consumer prices higher.” Bessent argued that doesn’t necessarily mean tariffs are fueling inflation: Inflation is a generalized price and persistent price increase. So there’s a big difference. This hasn’t set off some inflationary mind-set. Fed chair Jay Powell has said the Fed expects tariffs to only temporarily lift inflation, though the one-time increase in price level could be spread over several quarters. On the trade truce with ChinaAs part of a trade truce with China, the White House announced China would purchase 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans during the last two months of 2025. Andrew pointed out data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that showed China had so far bought just 332,000 metric tons of soybeans. Bessent said that the target was not the end of the year, but the end of the season in late February, and that China was “in a perfect cadence to complete that goal.” He added, “China is on track to keep every part of the deal. Every part of the deal.” On the FedBessent did not confirm that Kevin Hassett, who is considered the front-runner to be the next Fed chair, would get the job. Instead, he downplayed the role’s importance. I think the important thing to remember here is that it’s a board, and then several other voters from the regional banks. So the chair of the Federal Reserve has the ability to move and start the discussion, but at the end of the day, he or she is one vote. He also spoke about a problem he sees with the larger Fed construct: Some of the 12 regional reserve bank presidents, who vote on interest rates on a rotating basis, are not from the districts they represent. Bessent argued that’s “a disconnect from the original framing with the Federal Reserve” and said new regional Fed presidents should be required to live in their districts for at least three years before taking the job. Regional presidents are selected by a local board of governors, although members of the Washington-based board of governors can veto the selection. “So I believe that, you would just say, unless someone’s lived in the district for three years, we’re going to veto them,” Bessent said. On TaiwanAndrew asked Bessent about concerns regarding the reliability of the United States as an ally to Taiwan, which dominates the global semiconductor supply chain. Bessent said: “The United States is an ally of China. The relationship remains unchanged.” Asked to clarify if he meant China or Taiwan, he said: “And Taiwan,” and repeated that “the relationship remains unchanged.” Later he said disruption on chips from Taiwan would be “the single point of failure for the global economy.” In a separate interview at the DealBook Summit, Lai Ching-te, the president of Taiwan, called Taiwan’s relationship with the United States “rock solid.” On ‘Trump accounts’Michael and Susan Dell announced on Tuesday that they had pledged $6.25 billion to give roughly 25 million children $250 each through a new type of investment account known as “Trump accounts.” Created in this year’s tax bill, the accounts allow deposits (with certain limits) to grow tax-free. Bessent said he hoped other donors would follow suit. He said: This is the opportunity for philanthropists, for foundations and for corporations to contribute to all the American children. You could do a school district, you could do a ZIP code, you could do a state. We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. Thanks for reading! We’ll see you tomorrow. We’d like your feedback. Please email thoughts and suggestions to dealbook@nytimes.com.
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