U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday there is "no reason" to expect a recession in response to President Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariffs, despite sharp stock market declines and global economic uncertainty.
Speaking on NBC News' Meet the Press, Bessent dismissed concerns that the tariffs would trigger a broader economic downturn and pointed to unexpectedly strong job growth as a sign of economic resilience.
"We could see from the jobs number on Friday, that was well above expectations, that we are moving forward, so I see no reason that we have to price in a recession," Bessent said.
His remarks came amid mounting market jitters following Trump's announcement of broad tariffs on U.S. imports, which sparked retaliatory measures from China and pushed U.S. stocks into their steepest decline since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.