(Bloomberg) -- Scott Bessent, the veteran hedge fund manager who Donald Trump picked to become the next Treasury secretary, wants tariffs, a shadow chair for the Federal Reserve and maybe a weaker dollar.
If confirmed by the Senate, he will have a sprawling remit: oversee public financing, economic sanctions and the Internal Revenue Service; engage in international economic diplomacy; and help ensure the smooth functioning of financial markets. Bessent, who currently runs macro hedge fund Key Square Group LP, will be crucial to implementing the president-elect’s agenda, which includes renewing some of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts that expire next year and loosening financial regulations.
Below is a roundup of what Bessent has said over the past year on policies that will influence the US economy.
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Federal Reserve
Trump has said that a president should have some say over interest rates and monetary policy, a move that would undercut the longstanding independence the central bank has enjoyed from the executive branch. Bessent doesn’t seem to disagree with Trump, and even criticized the Fed himself in September after its jumbo rate cut.
Bessent will also have a hand in helping Trump choose a replacement for Fed Chair Jerome Powell when his term expires in May 2026, and at least three other appointments to the board in the next four years. Trump has flirted with the idea of firing Powell before, but Bessent has floated a fresh idea.
Tariffs
Trump has vowed to impose massive new tariffs, eyeing a duty of 10% to 20% on all foreign goods and 60% or higher on goods coming from China. On the campaign trail, he also made threats of even-higher rates on specific countries and products.
While Bessent has at times suggested that Trump is signaling a maximalist approach as a negotiation tactic, in an op-ed Nov. 15 for Fox News he signaled strong support for tariffs.
Markets
Treasury secretaries have traditionally refrained from attributing market gains to the work of their bosses since that would mean taking the blame for a downturn — not to mention that the stock, currency and bond markets move for often unrelated, and even inexplicable, reasons. But when markets go up, Trump enjoys a boast. In a Nov. 11 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal under the headline “Markets Hail Trump’s Economics,” Bessent did the job for Trump.
Dollar Policy
It’s no secret that Trump likes the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve asset, and the accompanying economic and geopolitical power. But he also wants a weak enough foreign-exchange rate to buoy the US manufacturing sector. The dueling forces may become a pillar of his administration’s economic agenda, and as Treasury chief, Bessent will oversee US currency policy.
Debt and Taxes
Bessent will also oversee management of the government’s nearly $29 trillion debt pile. He’s said Trump will aim to shrink federal budget deficits to 3% of gross domestic product, from roughly 6.2% at the end of the latest fiscal year.
Bessent will also play a key role shepherding the extension of Trump’s signature 2017 tax cuts, many of which are set to expire in 2025.
--With assistance from Saleha Mohsin.
