U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that he wouldn’t put too much emphasis on a single inflation number, emphasising the importance of looking at the trend and noting that inflation is not accelerating. The official added that he hadn’t yet seen today’s U.S. CPI report.
Bessent reaffirmed that President Trump has said many times that he has no intention of firing the Federal Reserve's chair Jerome Powell. However, he noted the Fed has made significant forecasting errors in the past and suggested there may be another one now. He also underscored the importance of an independent central bank for sound policy.
U.S. Treasury Secretary confirmed that the formal process to pick Powell’s successor has already started, stating there are many strong candidates both inside and outside the Fed, and that the selection will happen at “Trump’s speed.”
On trade, Bessent said the U.S. is in a good place with China and revealed that he expects to meet with his Chinese counterpart in the coming weeks. He added that he is not going to rush deals because of some market deadline.