Scott Bessent: "Our trading partners have taken advantage of us"

This has been years in the making, this unsustainable system.  Our trading partners have taken advantage of us.  We can see this through the large [trade] surpluses.  We can see this through the large budget deficit.

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After 20, 30, 40, 50 years of bad behavior, you can't just wipe the slate clean.

~ Scott Bessent, Treasury Secretary, "Treasury Sec. Bessent says ‘there doesn’t have to be a recession’: Full interview," NBC News "Meet the Press," 2:50 mark and 9:30 mark, April 6, 2025

Peter Navarro on the trade deficit: "it's the sum of all cheating"

What the trade deficit does for any given country, it's the sum of all cheating.  It's the sum of all unfair trading practices.

~ Peter Navarro, senior counselor to the president for trade and manufacturing, CNN interview, April 3, 2025