Sitting in a bland conference hall in Washington on Wednesday evening, Scott Bessent presented an unabashed defence of America’s trade policies in his first face-to-face meetings with G20 counterparts.
According to those present at the dinner, on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings, the Treasury secretary portrayed President Donald Trump’s approach as part of a clear and masterful blueprint to rebalance the global economy — and by no means the chaotic muddle of U-turns that officials elsewhere in the world perceive.
Trump had taken “strong action” to address the imbalances of an “unfair trading system”, Bessent said at an event the same day. More than 100 countries had responded “openly and positively”, he added.