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Scott Bessent: “President threatened 100% tariffs on China if they did this.”

Featuring: Scott Bessent, Republican | Secretary of the Treasury | National

Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026

Published January 20, 2026 | Video Starts at 13:22

On October 8, the Chinese government announced rare earth export controls on the entire world, not just the US and which would have caused an industrial meltdown. President threatened 100% tariffs on China if they did this. My Chinese counterpart, who's been a very good interlocutor, had gone quiet for a couple of days. Chinese immediately came to the table and they rolled the export controls out a year. (13:22–13:30)

CLAIM

Asserts that President Trump threatened 100% tariffs on China over rare earth export controls.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Scott Bessent

“Japan over the past two days has had a six standard deviation move in their bond market.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 05:59-06:06
“The United States of America since 1980 has contributed $22 trillion more dollars or spent $22 trillion more dollars on defense than all of…”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 07:52-08:05
“100, 200,000 Americans dying every year [from fentanyl].”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 12:50-12:54
“We have lost more than 50% of the small and community banks.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 23:44-23:50
“97% of the high end chips are made in Taiwan.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 25:33-25:39
“Defense contractors are five, six, seven years behind on fulfillment of their contracts.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 26:08-26:14
“India has geared down and has stopped buying Russian oil.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 31:17-31:22
“The president has a very strong view on Western hemispheric security and believes that the US should not outsource our national security.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 02:48-02:58
“He believes that Greenland is essential for the Golden Dome missile shield.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 02:57-03:04
“Greenland's becoming more and more attractive for foreign conquest.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 03:23-03:30
“No country is going to assert control [over] Greenland if the US controls Greenland.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 04:14-04:20
“This has been in the minds of American presidents for more than 150 years.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 05:15-05:21
“They [China] have completed their soybean purchases and we're looking forward to next year's 25 million tons.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 06:29-14:35
“They [China] are flowing as expected. We are in a fulfillment rate that's in the 90s, which I think is quite satisfactory.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 06:29-15:10
“The plan is to go ahead with the trade deal. Of course the President has said that he on February 1st will implement a 10% tariff if, if the…”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 06:46-07:06
“The NATO alliance is very safe, sound, and thanks to President Trump, it's never been more secure.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 07:25-07:34
“When President Trump came in in his first term, the European countries and Canada were not meeting their spending quote as percent of GDP…”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 07:33-07:49
“Everyone has [stepped up], except Spain.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 08:28-08:31
“The US for 20. For the fiscal year which ends September 30th, we had a fiscal contraction.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 09:24-09:37
“We cut the deficit by about $200 billion.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 09:39-09:44
“Calendar year 2024 was 6.9%, the highest we've ever had when the US was not at war or not in recession.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 09:47-09:53
“Calendar year 2025, 5.4%.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 10:02-10:06
“US bond market had its best performing year since 2020.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 10:36-10:42
“We had more foreign participation than ever [in the U.S. bond market].”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 10:53-10:53
“The Japan situation, that the market there again had a six standard deviation move and that was happening before any of the Greenland news.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 11:17-11:32
“President Trump has used IA for negotiating leverage for geopolitics in emergency situations.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 12:28-12:36
“The first IPA tariffs were fentanyl tariffs.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 12:37-12:41
“On October 8, the Chinese government announced rare earth export controls on the entire world, not just the US.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 13:08-13:16
“Chinese immediately came to the table and they rolled the export controls out a year.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 13:37-13:45
“The real number was 4.7. The government contracted by 0.4. So that got us to 0.3. So that is pure private sector GDP.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 15:56-16:07
“We have the tax deal, one big beautiful bill done on July 4, which no one said could be done.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 16:20-16:26
“The Atlanta Fed GDP now number, which very noisy number is now reading 5.3.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 17:41-17:49
“Prices are high. The Biden administration was a wipeout for working Americans that the price level increased by 21, 22, 23%.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 18:30-18:43
“Real incomes have gone up every month. Since President Trump took office.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 19:30-19:34
“We could see for working families, for each wage earner, we could see up to a thousand per wage earner.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 19:44-19:53
“Institutional investors hoovered up single family homes [post the financial crisis].”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 21:06-21:14
“Institutional investors can deduct the borrowing amount, but they can also expense any repairs and depreciation.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 21:25-21:34
“Institutional investors are much higher in boomtown markets like Charlotte, like Atlanta, like Huntsville, Alabama.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 22:09-22:19
“We have done a lot to deregulate banks.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 23:05-23:09
“Oliver Wyman's numbers, not mine, estimates that there's 2.5 trillion of extra lending capacity.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 23:15-23:23
“Several companies have tried to stand up critical minerals facilities in the US and the Chinese come lower price, undercut them and then…”
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“We are working at warp speed to create a critical minerals block where we can mine, process and refine critical minerals.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 28:00-28:12
“For energy, we are independent. We're an energy superpower.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 28:36-28:42
“In South Carolina, for the first time in 25 years, there's a producer there who made rare earth magnets.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 28:51-28:59
“They believe that within two years they can fulfill most of the rare earth magnets, magnet needs for the US.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 29:05-29:13
“President Trump ordered Treasury and our OFAC division, Office of Foreign Asset Control, to put maximum pressure on Iran.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 29:54-30:03
“In December, [Iran's] economy collapsed. We saw a major bank go under.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 30:04-30:10
“The central bank [of Iran] has started to print money. There is a dollar shortage.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 30:09-30:14
“Historically, every productivity boom has led to job growth.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 32:20-32:29
“The China shock was a blue collar phenomenon. My guess is the AI shock might be a white collar phenomenon.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 33:01-33:09
“The Russell Index of smaller cap stocks has outperformed.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 33:54-34:00
“Corporate surveys are the highest that they've been since June 22nd.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 34:13-34:19
“The US is the innovation capital of the world.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 35:08-35:12
“The EU was supposed to cut down on red tape, but it has logarithmically increased it.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 35:21-35:31
“It is easier doing business in China than the EU.”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 35:34-35:37
“It took me 90 days to get an appointment with [Ursula von der Leyen].”
Conversation with Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury | WEF Annual Meeting 2026 | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 35:48-35:52