Scott Bessent: “We measured abundance at the checkout counter rather than the factory gate.”

We do not ask bankers to assume the burdens of border enforcement, but we depend on banks to do what you do best: know your customers, identify risks as they arise, and report suspicious patterns before they metastasize into criminal…

I emphasized that we expect Beijing to fully meet its commitments on rare earths and U.S. agricultural products.

We want to make clear here today that no one is above the reach of U.S. sanctions.

If you insist on doing business with them—either transferring money, buying oil, doing seaborne ship transport—then the US Treasury and the US government, they will put its full might and force towards enforcing against you.