Following are excerpts from the unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” (M-F, 6AM-9AM ET) today, Thursday, July 31. Following are links to video on CNBC.com:
Watch CNBC’s full interview with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
Bessent On South Korea Agreement
U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT: They presented a very good offer. President Trump moved the offer up a bit, and we reached a very good agreement where they will have 15% tariffs. They will buy a substantial amount of U.S. energy. They will make a substantial investment in the, into the US, both from their sovereign resources and via private companies.
Bessent On India
BESSENT: India came to the table early. They've been slow rolling things. So I think that the president, the whole trade team has been frustrated with them. And also, you know, India, India has been a large buyer of sanctioned Russian oil that they then resell as refined products. So, you know, they have not been a great global actor.
Bessent On China
BESSENT: We met for two full days in Stockholm. The Chinese are tough negotiators. We're tough too. It was led by the vice premier, my counterpart, He Lifeng, who I have great respect for. You know, he is both a statesman, a tough negotiator and very senior in the leadership. We pushed back on them quite a bit and made our positions known. I believe that we have the makings of a deal. They announced that we would have a 90-day role which was a bit premature.
Bessent On China August 12 Deadline
BESSENT: Ambassador Greer and myself will be speaking to President Trump today about whether we will be doing the role by the August 12th deadline. There's still a few technical details to be worked out on the Chinese side between us. I'm confident that it will be done, but it's not 100% done.
Bessent On Treasury Markets
BESSENT: Really, for most of the Asian economies, 2017 marked the high point of their ownership of US treasuries. We've, we've seen a gradual decrease since then. So, you know, the treasury market really hasn't featured in any of these negotiations.
Bessent On Aluminum Tariffs
BESSENT: I believe that the Ford F-150, 250, you know, their big truck series is made out of aluminum instead of steel, which is different than other cars. So I think maybe the aluminum tariffs have hit them harder. We will be negotiating with Canada on those. So, you know, I think with Ford it's probably been idiosyncratic.
Bessent On Capex Boom
BESSENT: I think, that there has been a big holdback in CapEx until companies were sure that they were going to get the 100% immediate expensing, and then they'll be getting and that's permanent. They'll be getting 100% immediate expensing for factory structures and ag structures for the next five years. So we're seeing a CapEx boom that started. I think it's going to really accelerate third, fourth quarter. Andrew and I were out in Sun Valley. You know, a lot of the tech titans out there are talking about the continued AI acceleration. And, you know, we're expecting to see that productivity kick in in the first or second quarter of next year. So I would expect that we are going to see an economic acceleration from here.
Bessent On Next Fed Chair
BESSENT: We are putting, putting together a very good list of candidates. And remember, they're going to be two seats opening up. Governor Kugler will be leaving in I can't remember whether January, January, February, Chair Powell in May. So there will be two seats opening up. I'm putting together a list for president, chief of staff to review, we’ll be interviewing people. So, you know, I would expect that we could have an announcement by the end of the year.
Bessent On Insider Trading
BESSENT: Some of the senators who criticize me are the ones who take the most advantage of, you know, they don't have insider trading rules. So Senator Wyden criticized me. You know, he has a, you know, he's a statistical aberration. Somehow he has made over 120% one year, over 70% the next year. You know, if he were a private citizen, the SEC would be knocking on his door. Same with the Pelosi family. How does this happen?
