Reducing the tax burden on U.S. manufacturers, services workers, and retirees will be a critical priority for the incoming Trump administration, Trump Treasury nominee Scott Bessent will tell a Senate panel Thursday, according to prepared remarks.
“If Congress fails to act, Americans will face the largest tax increase in history, a crushing $4 trillion tax hike. We must make permanent the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and implement new pro-growth policies to reduce the tax burden on American manufacturers, service workers, and seniors,” Bessent plans to tell the Senate Finance Committee.
Bessent has been largely behind the scenes in the months since Trump tapped the South Carolina-based billionaire investor to be Treasury Secretary. He has been meeting with Senators from both the Republican and Democratic parties in recent weeks and is expected to be approved for the cabinet position.
Lawmakers are expected to question Bessent on tariffs, proposals to establish a Bitcoin reserve, the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, tax cuts, Russian sanctions, and U.S. currency policy. According to prepared remarks reviewed by Breitbart News, Besset will say that maintaining the dollar as the world’s reserve currency is important for the economic health of U.S.
“We must secure supply chains that are vulnerable to strategic competitors, and we must carefully deploy sanctions as part of a whole-of-government approach to address our national security requirements. And critically, we must ensure that the U.S. dollar remains the world’s reserve currency,” Bessent will say.
Bessent is also likely to attempt to distinguish the Trump administration’s plans to revitalize American manufacturing from the Biden administration’s troubled industrial policy. Although the Biden administration has poured billions in subsidies for businesses willing to pursue its climate change and DEI agendas, U.S. manufacturing has been mired in a downturn for nearly two years. Billions have been spent on new manufacturing plants even while output and employment has stumbled and consumer prices soared.
“Productive investment that grows the economy must be prioritized over wasteful spending that drives inflation,” Bessent will say.
Bessent will also defend the president-elect’s plans to impose tariffs and negotiate improved terms of trade for U.S. businesses. President Trump has said he will impose tariffs across the board, although he has hinted that trading partners could see relief from tariffs on the goods and services they export to the U.S. if they are willing to reduce their own trade barriers and purchase more U.S. goods. Trump has also said that foreign companies can avoid tariffs by moving production into the U.S.
“Trump was the first president in modern times to recognize the need to change our trade policy and stand up for American workers,” Besset will say.
