Bessent Emerges as Wall Street Man-of-the-Hour Trade Negotiator

Scott Bessent, US treasury secretary, speaks to members of the media outside the White House, April 9, 2025.Photographer: Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wasn’t directly involved in setting the steepest American tariff rates since before World War II. But he’s now in charge of negotiations to avoid them getting implemented.

The former hedge fund manager has vaulted to the front of the line in President Donald Trump’s list of advisers in recent days, in a context where a historic selloff on Wall Street put pressure on the administration to ease off of its maximalist position on import duties.