Secretary Scott Bessent (01:54):
The second Trump administration, and I can tell you that year two is going to be just as exciting and just as important for the American people. This morning, I want to address a topic of great important to President Trump, America First Trade, and the ways it is transforming our world. America First does not mean America alone, but free trade should be fair trade.
(02:18)
Parallel prosperity extends beyond the United States. It is a global rebalancing that the President has shouldered for the benefit of all, especially the American people. A rebalancing of international trade was long overdue. And with the numbers we've seen, rebalancing must continue. The data indicate that this rebalancing is underway in the United States. The United States international trade deficit is narrowing at an unprecedented pace.
(02:50)
In October, the trade gap declined by 39% month over month, reaching its lowest level since 2009. Exports increased nearly 3% to an all time high, while imports declined by 3%. Their lowest level since early 2024. This reflects an increased competitiveness of US production. Our world is both safer and more prosperous when America is strong with a robust industrial base and a vibrant economy.
(03:21)
The President has built his entire trade agenda on advancing these goals and the results speak for themselves through real economic activity. Since President Trump took office, inflation-adjusted goods output has grown at an annual rate exceeding 9%. The strongest non-pandemic expansion in more than a decade. America's CapEx boom is underway. Manufacturing investment has accelerated, capacity utilization has increased, and reshoring activity continues to expand across multiple sectors.
(03:54)
As a result, productivity growth, the ultimate determinant of rising living standards, is surging. In the process, real blue collar wages are increasing at one of the fastest rates to start a new administration on record. President Trump has created a true blue collar boom, but he has also rebalanced the international order for the betterment of all, even for those of you who are not American.
(04:20)
Last week, G7 finance ministers plus other participants, including India, South Korea, Mexico, and Australia, gathered in the Treasury building with me to discuss the need for diversifying critical mineral supply chains. Years of failed policies have fostered a situation in which supply chains have become highly concentrated and vulnerable to both disruption and manipulation. President Trump's leadership is tending to these vulnerabilities.
(04:52)
President Trump's leadership gathered these nations, and President Trump's leadership continues to drive the dialogue. In the G20, there's a world of parallel prosperity from which all will benefit. The United States is a premier destination for global capital. Thanks to President Trump, as I have often said, our country now has the most favorable tax, energy, and regulatory environment in the world, ensuring even stronger returns for partners who invest in America.
(05:21)
And as we assume leadership of the G20, our agenda is one that we wish not just for ourselves, but for all of our allies. Grow, baby, grow. Growth is the only path out of this mountain of debt, and we can only grow together by expanding trade that is fair. And thanks to President Trump, America's First approach to rebalancing global trade, we all have the opportunity to do so. I look forward to taking your questions on trade and any other subjects.
Moderator (05:53):
Thanks, everybody. So let's go to the room first, if we can please have the first question. Please state your name and outlet, gentlemen over here on the right in the black turtleneck.
Urskarica (06:01):
Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. My name is Urskarica. I'm with Swiss Weekly Network. We know that from previous statements that you value Swiss neutrality very highly. Our government every so often is taking away off neutrality. What would that mean in terms of our bilateral relationships if Switzerland more and more would side with EU, for example, or would depart from our traditional neutrality?
Secretary Scott Bessent (06:33):
Well, let's talk about what Switzerland emulating the failed EU economic policies would do. Switzerland, a country of nine million people, amazingly, the box is so far above its weight class. It is an industrial powerhouse. It is home to, as I said yesterday, a thriving middle class. And I would worry if you started emulating the EU policies of administration, bureaucracy, and economic sclerosis. And it would be very disappointing if Switzerland decided to get on the EU bandwagon, talk first and not think about the consequences later.
Moderator (07:21):
Thank you. Let's move to the next question, please. Front row, yellow tie. Name and outlet, please.
Edward Lawrence (07:26):
Edward Lawrence from Fox. Thanks, Mr. Secretary. So the President says he's going to put a 10% tariff on Greenland starting February 1st. It goes up to 25%. How concerned are you this is going to start a trade war with Europe, and is it worth risking the US economy or Greenland?
Secretary Scott Bessent (07:42):
Well, I'm not going to get ahead of the President. The President obviously believes that national security is economic security, economic security is national security. And we're not putting a 10% tariff on Greenland. We're putting a 10% tariff on the eight countries that chose to send troops to Greenland. I mean, for those countries to activate their troops, I'm not sure what signal that's supposed to send.
(08:12)
It seems pretty exotic to me. So President Trump has made it clear that we will not outsource our national security or our hemispheric security to any other countries. Our partner, the UK, is letting us down with the base on Diego Garcia, which we had shared together for many, many years, and they want to turn it over to Mauritius. So President Trump is serious here.
(08:42)
Just as I said, after Liberation Day last year, I would tell everyone, take a deep breath. Do not have this reflexive anger that we've seen and the bitterness. Why don't they sit down, wait for President Trump to get here and listen to his argument because I think they're going to be persuaded?
Edward Lawrence (09:05):
If I could on the Supreme Court today, you went to a Supreme Court hearing, why shouldn't Fed Chairman Jerome Powell go?
Secretary Scott Bessent (09:11):
Yeah. I am a political appointee and Chair Powell is not. Chair Powell says that the Fed must stay above politics and the politics cannot get enmeshed into the Fed. I have become very frustrated with the Fed for refusing to do an internal investigation. I think all of this could have been avoided. I have been calling for an internal investigation at the Fed since last summer, and even before that.
(09:41)
So there are two things at stake here. One, does the President have the authority to remove Governor Cook for alleged malfeasance? Two, did Governor Cook commit mortgage fraud? I am not sure why Chair Powell would go and support Governor Cook when the Fed has not undertaken an examination of whether she did in fact commit mortgage fraud. If she did, she is stealing from the American people every day because she has a GSE-backed mortgage.
(10:19)
And as I've said before, it is very unfortunate that on Chair Powell's watch, we will have seen between four and six governors and bank presidents have to step down for ethical lapses. Now, four to six may not seem like much. That is out of 19. I can tell you, as someone who was on Wall Street, if you were the leader of a Wall Street firm, you would have a failure to supervise problem.
(10:47)
So again, I think that his sitting in the front row of the Supreme Court is a political statement, and I agree with him. The Fed should not be politicized. He is politicizing the Fed. I went in my capacity as a political employee in the Trump administration.
Edward Lawrence (11:06):
The governor calls you smug. Are you smug?
Secretary Scott Bessent (11:09):
Yeah. I think it's very, very ironic that Governor Newsom, who strikes me as Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken, may be the only Californian who knows less about economics than Kamala Harris. He's here this week with his billionaire sugar daddy, Alex Soros. And Davos is the perfect place for a man who, when everyone else is on lockdown, when he was having people arrested for going to church, he was having $1,000 a night meals at The French Laundry.
(11:47)
And I'm sure the California people won't forget that. And I can tell my message to Governor Newsome is the Trump administration is coming to California. We are going to crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse. And I was told he was asked to give a speech on his signature policies, but he's not speaking. Because what have his economic policies brought?
(12:10)
Outward migration from California, a gigantic budget deficit, the largest homeless population in America, and the poor folks in the Palisades who had their homes burned down. He is here hobnobbing with the global elite while his California citizens are still homeless. Shame on him. He is too smug, too self-absorbed, and too economically illiterate to know anything.
Moderator (12:40):
Thank you very much.
Secretary Scott Bessent (12:41):
Let me know if you need any further clarification.
Moderator (12:46):
And that goes for all of you, if you need any more clarification on that. Next question, please. Gentlemen, second row with glasses. Name and outlet, please. Thank you.
Jamie Keaton (12:55):
Good morning, Jamie Keaton, Associated Press. Thank you, Secretary, for coming to see us again. Yesterday, the S&P 500 dropped more than 2%. Gold and silver hit new highs. And the European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that US tariffs over Greenland were a mistake. And President Macron has mentioned the use of the EU's anti-coercion measures.
(13:21)
All after you said, as you've said this morning as well, that people need to take a breath over this situation. What conversations have you had with EU and other counterparts to help stabilize markets and to help convince them to take a breath? And I'd just like to add, how concerned are you that institutional investors in Europe may be pulling out of treasuries such as from pension funds in Denmark and elsewhere?
Secretary Scott Bessent (13:48):
Well, the size of Denmark's investment in US Treasury bonds like Denmark itself is irrelevant. It's less than $100 million. They've been selling Treasuries for years. I'm not concerned at all. Again, as Treasury secretary, I see our Treasury auctions. We've had record foreign investment. And also, as I said yesterday, I think it is very difficult to disaggregate any of the noise around Greenland, around these inflammatory statements by President Macron, by President von der Leyen.
(14:28)
From what we have seen in the Japanese bond markets, we saw a six standard deviation move in Japanese bonds, which has spilled over to other markets. And I've been in touch with my Japanese economic colleagues and I'm assured that they will take measures to stabilize that market. And just so everyone knows that this notion that Europeans would be selling US assets came from a single analyst at Deutsche Bank. Of course, the fake news media led by the Financial Times amplified it, and the CEO of Deutsche Bank called to say that Deutsche Bank does not stand by that analyst report.
Jamie Keaton (15:14):
No comment, no contact [inaudible 00:15:16]
Secretary Scott Bessent (15:18):
I'm waiting for President Trump to arrive, and that will be done at his level.
Moderator (15:23):
Great. Thank you. Let's take the next question, please. We'll move to this side of the room. Sir, right here. Name and outlet, please. Thank you.
Stefan Lance (15:30):
Thank you very much. Stefan Lance, biggest news Media of Switzerland, 20 Minutes. Can you give us an update on the trade negotiations and tariff negotiations with Switzerland? Have there been talks already? Will there be talks? Will you have meetings with Homologs from the Swiss Federal Council?
Secretary Scott Bessent (15:48):
Yeah. I'm seeing President Parmelin today, who I have a very good relationship with. We got to know each other in 2025. I find him to be very economically sophisticated, be it on trade, on economics. He's a fantastic advocate for the French people. And I think with his leadership that we will be able to land a trade deal that is fair for the American people and ensures the continued prosperity of Switzerland.
Moderator (16:16):
That's great. Thank you. We'll take the next question. Sir, right here, second row, name and outlet, please.
Halga Ali (16:22):
Yes. Thank you, Halga Ali, Swiss Business Publication Handles. Mr. Secretary, I listened yesterday to your session at Davos where you said US needs to take Greenland not to be drawn into a major conflict, but by aiming at taking Greenland, aren't you creating that conflict with your allies in Europe? Thank you.
Secretary Scott Bessent (16:44):
I think that we are asking our allies to understand that Greenland needs to be part of the United States. And just a little history lesson, the United States bought the U.S. Virgin Islands from Denmark during World War I. And I will remind everyone, I will remind everyone that Denmark remained neutral during World War I.
(17:08)
They actually sold quite a bit to the Germans, but the Danish understood then the importance of the U.S. Virgin Islands. They were worried about the German ramifications if the war spread to the Caribbean and the U.S. needed the U.S. Virgin Islands. They wanted a calm Caribbean after purchasing the Panama Canal from the French.
Moderator (17:37):
Great. Let's move to the next question, please. Let's go back to this side of the room. In the glasses, second row, name and outlet, please. Thank you. As a warning, everyone, we have about five minutes left. The schedule's a little tight today, so we'll have time for about two or three more questions at most. Thank you.
Alina Trabattoni (17:53):
Hi, good morning. Alina Trabattoni, Montel News. So tariffs and trade actions in theory strengthen the dollar. And since LNG is priced in dollars, could a stronger dollar make U.S. LNG more expensive for European buyers in Euro terms? And isn't there a concern that European markets could look elsewhere for suppliers?
Secretary Scott Bessent (18:14):
Well, your question doesn't make sense, because if you just said it was priced in dollars, then why would they look elsewhere for supplies? If oil comes from Saudi, it's priced in dollars. If oil comes from the North Sea, it's priced in dollars. So I don't think I understand the question.
Alina Trabattoni (18:33):
Yeah, LNG, but I mean, they could get better deals elsewhere.
Secretary Scott Bessent (18:37):
No, again, I think you're tripping on your own question. There's a global price for oil and the only way to get a better deal elsewhere is to buy sanctioned oil from Venezuela, sanctioned oil from Iran, and sanctioned oil from Russia. I will point out that the EU four years into the Ukraine-Russia conflict continues to fund the Russian war machine by buying cheap Russian oil.
(19:08)
In 2018, President Trump warned the Europeans, "Do not build Nord Stream 2. Do not buy Russian oil." And guess what funded, guess what gave Vladimir Putin the war chest to fund this war? The European purchases of Russian oil.
Moderator (19:29):
Great. Thank you. We'll move to the next question, please. I'm going to give some love to the back. Gentlemen back here, please. Orange lanyard with the beard. Yes, beard. Name and outlet, please. Microphone's coming from this side.
Rafael Swalen (19:46):
Thank you for the floor. Rafael Swalen, Swiss News Agency. I have a question on trade and my understanding you would like to export more agricultural products and cars to Europe under American standards, but the European standards are different. So are you asking European partners to change the standards or do you respect that in Europe we may have other standards?
Secretary Scott Bessent (20:13):
Well, I think that we can look at global standards. For instance, our partners in Japan agreed that U.S. standards are to remove a lot of their onerous standards. Let's be clear, Europe is a regulatory morass that is built on bureaucracy and layering and layering of rules that constrain economic activity and economic growth. As we've seen from the Draghi report, that Europe taxes itself, I believe it's 50% on goods, 100% on services intra-Europe.
(20:58)
So I think that Europe should break down the intra-Europe trade barriers, and I think that they should break down the external trade barriers because what we find is these artificial standards are called non-tariff trade barriers, and that they are a major problem throughout the world.
Moderator (21:19):
That's great. And this is going to be the last question then today, I think. We'll conclude it up here back in the front row, please, sir, with the laptop. Name and outlet.
Laurento May (21:28):
Hi, Laurento May with Sans. PRESS. A couple of questions, if I may. Could you tell us if President Trump, what happened with Air Force One and if you think President Trump will be here on time for his meetings and his speech? And this morning, President Macron's office said that France wants a NATO mission... I'm sorry, a NATO exercise in Greenland. What would you have to say about that?
Secretary Scott Bessent (21:57):
A couple of things. I believe President Trump is going to be about three hours late. I haven't seen the updated schedule. And that if this is what all President Macron has to do when the French budget is in shambles, I would suggest that he focuses on other things for the French people.
Szu Chan (22:18):
Would you take a question from the UK special relationship? Go on, one question.
Moderator (22:23):
Sure. I have one last question very, very eloquently asked. If you could have the microphone. Microphone one was left. Here, feel free to use my microphone.
Szu Chan (22:33):
Hi, Szu Chan from The Telegraph in London. Keir Starmer has irked the President on issues such as Chagos, as you mentioned, the digital services taxes, and of course, Greenland.
Secretary Scott Bessent (22:43):
And Diego Garcia.
Szu Chan (22:45):
Yes, of course. Are these issues tied to more progress on UK-U.S. trade ties and are any more trade talks scheduled? Thank you.
Secretary Scott Bessent (22:57):
I haven't seen that any more trade talks are scheduled. As you know, UK stepped up. They became the model for the First Trade deal. And as a result, as always with President Trump, the First Deal's the best deal. And because it's special relationship, UK got a very low rate. I think that we are continuing to negotiate, but that there have been some glitches in the trade deal. I am sure that the Starmer government will push forward.
Moderator (23:32):
Fantastic. Thank you so much for the time, everybody. We'll stay in touch and have a wonderful day. Thanks a lot.