Treas Sec. Bessent: Growth-first strategy drives U.S. economic push

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlined a growth-first economic strategy emphasizing AI leadership, energy expansion, supply-chain resilience and targeted industrial policy. The plan aims to boost productivity and real wages for the bottom 50% while balancing inflation control and continued expansion. Measures include prioritizing domestic capacity in chips, critical minerals and medicines, using tariffs and tech controls to “de-risk” reliance on China, and easing regulatory burdens to spur investment. For markets, the emphasis on AI and chip sovereignty supports technology and semiconductor sectors, while energy-focused policy could bolster energy producers. Deregulation and tax moves targeted at lower-income workers may be pro-cyclical for growth assets, though trade frictions and targeted controls could raise sectoral and geopolitical risk.