Official photograph of Scott Bessent, the United States Secretary of the Treasury since January 28, 2025.
Guacamaya, March 6, 2025. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that President Donald Trump recognizes issues with the excessive use of sanctions and that he himself shares this concern.
Bessent made these remarks at the Economic Club of New York on Thursday. “President Trump expressed his view that the excessive use of sanctions could affect the supremacy of the U.S. dollar. I couldn’t agree more and would add that, much like the overuse of antibiotics, the target becomes immune and mutates. Careless sanctions simply create new markets that then need to be sanctioned, and so on.”
As noted by The Washington Post journalist Jeff Stein, the use of sanctions by the U.S. government has multiplied under the last four presidents, affecting a third of all countries.
The U.S. imposes three times more sanctions than any other country or international organization. “They have become an almost reflexive weapon in perpetual economic warfare, and their overuse is recognized at the highest levels of government,” says Stein, the economic reporter covering the White House.
The Treasury Secretary has reaffirmed his support for the use of sanctions on other occasions, particularly against Russia “if Trump requires it as part of his strategy to end the War in Ukraine.” However, he has called for caution against their excessive use.
