Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arriving at the U.S. Capitol earlier this week. Photo: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that the economy was on steady footing, and played down the panic on display in financial markets as a result of the escalating global trade war.

Why it matters: The comments come hours after President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs took effect, further unnerving investors worried that the economy might take a hit.

What they’re saying: “There is a little uncertainty, but in general, the companies I’ve spoken to, CEOs, who have come into Treasury tell me that the economy is very solid,” Bessent said at a conference hosted by the American Bankers Association.

• “We got very good jobs numbers last Friday, so I think that we are in pretty good shape,” Bessent added, referring to the government payrolls release that showed the economy added 228,000 jobs in March — far above what analysts had expected.

State of play: That solid economic data, however, has not reassured Wall Street in recent days.

• Stocks plummeted in early trading after Trump’s reciprocal tariffs took effect, with a super-sized tariff on Chinese imports that prompted swift retaliation from the world’s second-largest economy.
• Bessent suggested tariff negotiations with a slew of nations was getting underway. “I think we have about 70 negotiations lined up,” he said, adding he is taking a “lead negotiating role in a lot of the tariffs.”
• On China, Bessent said that the U.S. could probably reach a deal with a set of allies and then “approach China as a group.”

What to watch: Yields on government bonds spiked sharply, an about-face from just days ago when borrowing costs had plunged on the back of recession fears.

• The unusual move is stoking concerns about the health of the Treasury market and financial system.
• “I believe that there is nothing systemic about this — I think that it is an uncomfortable but normal deleveraging that’s going on in the bond market,” Bessent told Fox Business on Wednesday, ahead of his remarks at the ABA annual conference.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with more comments by Bessent.