US Treasury's Bessent says FSOC will drive regulatory change, outlines tariff policies

David Lawder, Lananh Nguyen

Thu, Mar 6, 2025, 9:50 AM 2 min read

By David Lawder, Lananh Nguyen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent connected Thursday laid retired the Trump administration's ambitions to reshape planetary commercialized relations utilizing tariffs, rotation backmost fiscal regulations connected American banks, and usage sanctions connected Iran to illness its economy.

President Donald Trump has begun an "aggressive run to rebalance the planetary economical system," Bessent told the Economic Club of New York. "The American Dream is rooted successful the conception that immoderate national tin execute prosperity, upward mobility, and economical security. For excessively long, the designers of multilateral commercialized deals person mislaid show of this."

In respect to Iran, helium said the caller medication would exert a run of maximum unit of sanctions to choke disconnected its lipid exports and enactment unit connected its currency. "Making Iran broke again volition people the opening of our updated sanctions policy," Bessent said.

Trump's planetary commercialized argumentation connected Thursday continued to germinate aft helium gave Mexico a one-month reprieve connected 25% tariffs imposed earlier this week connected immoderate goods that autumn nether the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement connected trade. The outlook for Canada, whose goods, isolated from those successful the vigor sector, are besides taxable to a 25% tariff since Tuesday, was little clear, though Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had earlier said a comparable exemption was likely.

Bessent said tariffs would present benefits connected a fig of fronts.

"One, it is simply a bully root of revenues. Two, it protects our important industries and their employees. And three, (Trump has) added a 3rd limb to the stool and helium uses it for negotiating," Bessent said. The "substantial" gross from tariffs volition assistance wage for taxation cuts for earners successful the bottommost 50%, specified arsenic nary taxes connected tips, Bessent said successful remarks meant to propulsion backmost connected disapproval of tariffs arsenic a regressive taxation that punishes lower-income households.

Bessent besides signaled a wide propulsion to deregulate the banking sector. He said helium plans to usage the Financial Stability Oversight Council to thrust alteration successful fiscal regulations that are unduly burdensome to banks and to hole a "broken supervisory culture," coordinating via Treasury alternatively than consolidating agencies.

One absorption for banking supervisors should beryllium to analyse supplementary leverage restrictions, helium said.

(Writing by Ann Saphir; Editing by Paul Simao)