By David Lawder and Lawrence Delevingne
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scott Bessent, U.S. President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Treasury Department, pledged on Wednesday to ensure the dollar remains the world’s reserve currency as he laid out a vision for a “ new economic golden age”.
Bessent, who faces questioning before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, said in prepared testimony that the new Trump administration should prioritize productive investments that grow the economy over “wasteful spending that fuels inflation.”
“We must secure supply chains that are vulnerable to strategic competitors, and we must carefully deploy sanctions as part of a whole-of-government approach to meeting our national security requirements,” Bessent said in the remarks.
“And crucially, we must ensure that the US dollar remains the world’s reserve currency.”
Bessent, a hedge fund manager who has advocated Trump’s plans to impose significantly higher tariffs, did not mention China in his comments, but he has previously said that Chinese trade practices have hollowed out American industry.
Trump has threatened a 60% tariff on imports from China and a 10% levy on global imports. Trump has also said he would impose 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports until those two countries stem the flow of illegal immigrants and fentanyl into the United States.
$4 TRILLION TAX INCREASE
Bessent also said the administration and Congress should “make permanent” the expiring provisions of Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
“If Congress doesn’t act, Americans will face the largest tax increase in history, a crushing $4 trillion tax increase,” Bessent said.
The Trump administration and Congress must also pursue “pro-growth policies to reduce the tax burden on American factory workers and seniors,” he said.
The latter policy refers to Trump’s campaign promises to lower the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15% for companies that produce products in the United States, and to exempt income from tips and Social Security from tax.
Bessent said that with support from Congress, the Trump administration could usher in a new, more balanced era of prosperity for Americans, which he called “a generational opportunity to unleash a new economic golden age.”
