Bessen IMF and World Bank Assates, says that there is room for agreements with China

By Fatima Hussein and Chris Megerian

Washington (AP) – Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made severe criticism of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday when it was trying to reassure nervous investors that the United States would maintain its world leadership role.

“America does not first mean America alone,” he said in a discourse at the Institute of International Finance. “On the contrary, it is a call for deeper collaboration and mutual respect among business partners.”

Although Bessent said that the IMF and the World Bank “fail”, he ceased to call on the United States to withdraw from institutions as some conservatives had argued.

This was the latest example of how Bessent, a former hedge fund manager who closely monitors the financial markets, tried to calm economic disorders while President Donald Trump tries to reclaim international trade through aggressive prices.

After Bessent’s remarks, journalists asked him questions about an article in the Wall Street Journal which indicated that the huge American rates that the Republican president perceived on China could be cut in half, citing unidentified people familiar with the issue.

Bessent said: “I would be surprised if this discussion occurs.” However, he said he expects “there should be a de -escalation” of the commercial confrontation of Washington and Beijing.

Trump said on Tuesday that 145% prices on China could “lower considerably”. And then Wednesday, he told journalists that “everyone wanted to be part of what we are doing” and “everyone is going to be happy”.

Bessent’s speech in Washington has represented a large side against the IMF and the World Bank, which offers loans and other financial support in the world.

He said the Trump administration “will take advantage of American leaders and influence in these institutions and will push them to accomplish their important mandates”.

Some of Bessent’s criticisms have echoed the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate the progressive ideology of federal institutions. Bessent said that the IMF “has suffered from mission flumant” and “devotes time and disproportionate resources to work on climate change, gender and social problems”.

He said that there were problems similar to the World Bank, which he said, “should no longer expect white checks for vaporous marketing and focused on fashionable words accompanied by timid commitments to reform”.