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Investing.com -- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has indicated that the discussion for the next Federal Reserve Chair could take place sometime in the fall. He also mentioned that the US Treasury has the capacity to increase buybacks, if desired.
Current Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell’s term ends in May 2026.
Bessent, in a recent interview with Bloomberg TV, stated that there is no evidence of sovereign sales of US Treasuries. He emphasized that there has been no dumping of US Treasuries, and that one should not draw conclusions from what happens over the course of a week.
The secretary also said he is not worried about the U.S. dollar losing its safe haven asset status.
"We are still a global reserve currency," he said. "We have a strong dollar policy. The dollar can go up and down. If you go and look back at President Trump’s first term, I don’t remember the exact number, but the dollar in 2017 went down, I can’t remember, 7, 8, 9 percent. And then once the tax bill was done, it took off, took off for the remainder of his term."
In addition, Bessent expressed confidence in Argentina’s financial situation, expecting the nation to be able to pay off its swap line with China. His comments come amid broader discussions about international financial relations and the role of the US Treasury in global markets.
Commenting on tariff negotiations, Bessent expects there to be a first-mover advantage. "Usually the first person who makes the deal gets the best deal," he said. He sees the U.S. making ’agreements in principle’ with a handful of countires before the 90 days is up.
"... we’re going to move with all deliberate speed," he said. "And again, it’s going to be a process. It’s going to be USTR who just has mountains of data that they’ve been collecting over the years. Because in a funny way, the tariffs are the easiest part. So a country with high tariffs, you can just say, okay, this, this, this, this, get rid of it. It’s the non-tariff trade barriers that are more insidious, more difficult to spot. And it’s probably going to take a little longer to exercise those demons."
(Frank DeMatteo contributed to this article)