Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has played a balancing act trying to reassure nervous investors that the U.S. would maintain its global leadership role while staying true to the Trump administration’s skepticism of multilateral banking organizations.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that he believes that excessively high tariffs between the U.S. and China will have to come down before trade negotiations can proceed but said President Donald Trump would not unilaterally cut tariffs on Chinese imports.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a closed-door investor summit Tuesday that the tariff standoff with China cannot be sustained by both sides and that the world’s two largest economies will have to find ways to de-escalate.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told an investor summit Tuesday that he expects the tariff war between the U.S. and China will de-escalate because the status quo is unsustainable.