Bessent Urges All Counties to 'Stick' With Trade Deals
Speakers
Scott Bessent
— Treasury Secretary
Summary
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, urged countries to remain calm and stick with existing trade deals rather than escalating retaliatory tariffs against the US. He compared current tariff concerns to the April 2 panic and said the US-China relationship has been stabilized. Bessent also distinguished President Trump's Greenland-related tariff threat from other trade deals.
- Bessent says current tariff concerns resemble the April 2 hysteria and panic.
- He urges countries not to escalate against the US and to let events play out.
- He notes China was the only country that escalated previously, leading to tit-for-tat tariff increases.
- He says the US-China relationship has been stabilized through Trump's relations with Xi.
- He describes the Greenland-related tariff threat as different from other trade deals.
- He urges all countries to stick with their agreed trade deals for certainty.
