Watch live: Treasury Sec. Bessent outlines plan to restore ‘equilibrium’ to world financial system

Watch live: Treasury Sec. Bessent outlines plan to restore ‘equilibrium’ to world financial system


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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is delivering the keynote address to the Institute of International Finance in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

After his speech, Bessent is set to sit for a talk with IIF CEO Tim Adams, who previously served as under secretary of international affairs for the Treasury Department.

Bessent’s speech comes as the Trump administration is reportedly weighing cutting steep tariffs on China as part of trade negotiations.

“China needs to change,” Bessent said. “The country knows it needs to change. Everyone knows it needs to change. And we want to help it change—because we need rebalancing too.”

Bessent told investors in a closed-door meeting Tuesday he expects “there will be a de-escalation” in President Donald Trump’s trade war with China in the “very near future,” CNBC reported Tuesday.

“No one thinks the current status quo is sustainable” with tariff rates at their current levels, Bessent said at a private investor summit in Washington.

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