Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that he does not believe President Donald Trump’s tariffs are risking a recession.
Stock market averages have plummeted in the days since Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs on dozens of countries, boasting a 10% baseline and rates up to 50%, and J.P. Morgan raised the chance of a recession to 60%.
On NBC’s “Meet The Press,” moderator Kristen Welker presented “one of the big questions” during an interview with Bessent. “Recession, as you know, analysts say the chances of a recession are rising in the wake of the tariffs announced this week. Do you believe that President Trump’s tariffs are risking the chances of a recession?” she asked.
“I don’t,” Bessent said. “And I think we could see from the jobs number on Friday that it was well above expectations that, you know, we are moving forward. So I see no reason that we have to price in a recession.”
Bessent was referring to the monthly jobs report published on Friday that showed 228,000 jobs were added to the economy in March, strongly outpacing the growth predicted by analysts.
“There doesn’t have to be a recession,” Bessent said earlier in the interview. “Who knows how the market is going to react in a day, in a week? What we are looking at is building the long-term economic fundamentals for prosperity that I think the previous administration had put us on a course toward financial calamity.”
Another “one of the big questions and points of confusion” focused on whether the tariffs will be permanent, with Welker noting that some Trump administration officials have said the tariffs are permanent while the president himself has indicated that he is open to negotiations.
Pressed to clarify, Bessent said, “I think that’s going to be a decision for President Trump. But I can tell you that as only he can do at this moment, he has created maximum leverage for himself. And more than 50 countries have approached the administration about lowering their non-tariff trade barriers, lowering their tariffs, stopping currency manipulation. And, Kristen, you know, they’ve been bad actors for a long time. And it’s not the kind of thing you can negotiate away in days or weeks.”
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[[{“value”:”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that he does not believe President Donald Trump’s tariffs are risking a recession.
Stock market averages have plummeted in the days since Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs on dozens of countries, boasting a 10% baseline and rates up to 50%, and J.P. Morgan raised the chance of a recession to 60%.
On NBC’s “Meet The Press,” moderator Kristen Welker presented “one of the big questions” during an interview with Bessent. “Recession, as you know, analysts say the chances of a recession are rising in the wake of the tariffs announced this week. Do you believe that President Trump’s tariffs are risking the chances of a recession?” she asked.
“I don’t,” Bessent said. “And I think we could see from the jobs number on Friday that it was well above expectations that, you know, we are moving forward. So I see no reason that we have to price in a recession.”
Bessent was referring to the monthly jobs report published on Friday that showed 228,000 jobs were added to the economy in March, strongly outpacing the growth predicted by analysts.
“There doesn’t have to be a recession,” Bessent said earlier in the interview. “Who knows how the market is going to react in a day, in a week? What we are looking at is building the long-term economic fundamentals for prosperity that I think the previous administration had put us on a course toward financial calamity.”
Another “one of the big questions and points of confusion” focused on whether the tariffs will be permanent, with Welker noting that some Trump administration officials have said the tariffs are permanent while the president himself has indicated that he is open to negotiations.
Pressed to clarify, Bessent said, “I think that’s going to be a decision for President Trump. But I can tell you that as only he can do at this moment, he has created maximum leverage for himself. And more than 50 countries have approached the administration about lowering their non-tariff trade barriers, lowering their tariffs, stopping currency manipulation. And, Kristen, you know, they’ve been bad actors for a long time. And it’s not the kind of thing you can negotiate away in days or weeks.”
“}]]
