Bessent argues US was 'asleep' on economic security, Trump policies waking it up
Bessent criticized past U.S. administrations for neglecting economic security, leaving supply chains vulnerable to rivals like China. He praised Trump’s policies, including tariffs and industrial revival efforts, as steps to restore domestic manufacturing and reduce dependence.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will argue on Friday that President Donald Trump’s economic policies are helping to reverse decades of policy failures that left American supply chains vulnerable and the nation overly dependent on strategic rivals such as China. In prepared remarks to be delivered at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, Bessent contends that successive U.S. administrations have been “asleep at the wheel,” mistaking convenience and consumption for genuine national strength. “Somewhere along the way, we lost sight of a foundational principle that previous generations understood instinctively: economic security is national security,” he states, warning that a nation unable to manufacture, refine or transport its own core needs inevitably surrenders its sovereignty to others.
Bessent, who describes himself as an “economic historian,” traces the erosion of U.S. industrial resilience to bipartisan policy missteps, including China’s 2001 entry into the World Trade Organization and an overreliance on a rules-based system that proved ineffective against non-market economic distortions. These decisions hollowed out domestic manufacturing, deepened reliance on foreign suppliers and financed the rise of geopolitical competitors whose interests do not align with Washington’s. Echoing themes from Trump’s “America First” agenda, Bessent asserts that tariffs, targeted industrial policy and a push to rebuild critical supply chains—especially in shipbuilding, pharmaceuticals and critical minerals—are beginning to correct these mistakes.
The Treasury Secretary’s intervention follows the recent summit in Beijing between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, an encounter that underscored the continuing strategic rivalry and resulted in limited accords on managed trade, agricultural purchases and aircraft sales. While the remarks do not introduce new policy measures or address escalating tensions in the Middle East, Bessent frames the administration’s approach as a necessary corrective to decades of strategic complacency. “Economic security is national security,” he repeats, rejecting the notion that this doctrine implies isolationism. Instead, he insists it means re-engaging with the world on “stronger, fairer, and more sustainable terms,” carefully distinguishing between healthy interdependence and perilous overdependence.
Bessent acknowledges that China’s dominance in critical minerals and advanced manufacturing poses a formidable challenge to reducing U.S. exposure, but argues that targeted investment and strategic trade measures can gradually restore balance. By prioritizing resilience over pure efficiency, his vision seeks to rebuild America’s industrial base while maintaining global engagement—albeit under terms that prioritize national security over short-term economic convenience.
