Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday offered a full-throated defense of the White House's position on tariffs, insisting that, "Access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American dream." In a speech delivered to a crowd of leading economists,

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that President Trump's tariffs aren't going to cause persistent inflation, but may lead to a one-time price adjustment.

Scott Bessent is staking out a leadership role for the Treasury Department in the Trump administration’s deregulatory campaign. In a speech to The Economic Club of New York Thursday, the Treasury Secr