Bessent says US supply chains must be able to withstand shocks, coercion
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U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent listens as U.S. first lady Melania Trump (not pictured) delivers remarks on a Trump administration initiative for savings and investment accounts for children in foster care, during an event at the Treasury Department
June 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that the Trump administration aimed to build enough supply chain capacity to allow critical industries to withstand economic shocks, pandemics, wars, coercion from adversaries and other foreign chokepoints.
Bessent told the Economic Club of New York that supply chain resilience "does not require every component to be domestic from beginning to end. That would be unrealistic and unnecessary."
But in a speech invoking Alexander Hamilton's call for a newly independent United States to develop manufacturing self-sufficiency, Bessent said supply chain security "requires diversifying away from dangerous concentrations. And that we build enough capacity at home to ensure that the American people are never at the mercy of a foreign chokepoint abroad."
Bessent also said that, after decades of growing trade deficits, the U.S. was a nation now more aware of its economic interests, and more prepared to protect them.
Partner countries should expect "a nation that insists on reciprocity. That shields its firms from discriminatory treatment. Secures its critical supply chains. Enforces sanctions and combats illicit finance," Bessent said. "A United States, in short, that will not allow economic policy to grow detached from national strategy."
Bessent also said the U.S. should support financial innovation that strengthens the dollar, improves efficiency, expands access and preserves the integrity of the financial system, but he did not outline any specific policies to achieve that. He added that the U.S. would insist that new technologies meet U.S. standards for transparency, security, consumer protection and law enforcement access.
(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
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