In an interview with CNBC on Friday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that they are committed to policies that will lead to a strong US Dollar, per Reuters.
Key takeaways
“April 2 tariffs will be a choice for other countries if they want frictionless trade.”
“Tariffs are a one-time price adjustment.”
“There’s going to be a natural adjustment as we move from public to private spending.”
“There’s going to be a detox period.”
“Very unlikely we will get any credit by the CBO for tariffs.”
“No change in strong Dollar policy.”
“We are against currency manipulation.”
“I think we will see a pick up in corporate activity.”
“Real income gains for lower 50% of Americans could be an offset.”
“Trump wants to get to fair trading with China, we’re a long way off.”
“China needs to rebalance.”
Market reaction
The US Dollar struggles to rebound following these comments. At the time of press, the USD Index was down 0.4% on the day at 103.73.