SOTS 2nd Hour: Live: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent 03/13/25

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Carl Quintanilla (0:59)

Market Moving Insight and Analysis join Jim Cramer, David Faber and me, Carl Quintanilla, on the opening bell hour of CNBC Squawk on the Street. Good Thursday morning. Welcome to Squawk on the Street. I'm Carl Quintanilla with Mike Santoli, Leslie Picker here at Post 9 of the New York Stock Exchange. We're going to be joined in a few moments by the Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, talking about everything from market volatility to the impact of tariffs, to the threat of a government shutdown. Meantime, S&P approaching the lows of the week, still about 30 points away, despite some solid macro data this morning on PPI and claims. Let's get to Sara this morning with the Treasury Secretary. Morning, Sara.

Sara Eisen (1:41)

Good evening from Singapore, Carl, where I'm here for the Converge Conference at CNBC. And good morning to you, Mr. Secretary in Washington. Thank you for joining us.

Scott Bessent (1:50)

Good morning, Sara.

Sara Eisen (1:54)

Let's start right there because Carl just went through the markets. It's another sort of turbulent day here. The volatility has really picked up. We're down another more than three and a half percent for the week, almost 10 percent from the recent highs. I know that you guys have brushed this off, but I do wonder if you're starting to get concerned now that these losses are picking up.

Scott Bessent (2:15)

Look, Sara, we're focused on the real economy. Can we create an environment where there are long-term gains in the market and long-term gains for the American people? I think having been in the markets for 35 years, I know the market is prone to big unwinds like this. I think we've seen a lot of position unwinding, and I can't really speak to that.

Sara Eisen (2:44)

I guess, you know, and this has been consistent with your view, but 62% of Americans own stocks. I mean, it's near 20-year high, so how can the White House not be concerned about hard-working Americans' 401k plans?

Scott Bessent (2:59)

Look, Sara, I didn't say we're not concerned. I'm not concerned about a little bit of volatility over three weeks, because if you look over the long-term, the reason stocks are a safe and great investment is because you're looking over the long-term. If you start looking at micro horizons, stocks become very risky. So we are focused over the medium and long-term, and I can't tell you that the market is going to go up today, tomorrow, next week. But I can tell you that if we put proper policies in place, it's going to lay the groundwork for both real income gains and job gains and continued asset gains.

Sara Eisen (3:42)

Understood that you're focused on the long-term, and part of it is these tariffs.

But now there's concerns about a possible government shutdown. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is saying the Democrats are going to reject a government funding bill. We have this deadline tomorrow night. What is your expectation, Mr. Secretary, and how destructive would this be?

Scott Bessent (4:03)

Well, it would be incredibly disruptive. And, Sara, I know you said you've been in Singapore all week, but I think the underreported story since January 20th and of the past few weeks is this incredible Republican unity and this Democratic disarray.

We've seen Speaker Johnson get through, with President Trump's help, a tax bill, get it over the Senate. We saw a clean CR bill. And if Senator Schumer wants to reject it, hurt the American people, close down the government, and they're going to own any of the problems that go with it, including economic slowdown. And if this is all they got, then they ought to re-gather and think about what they're doing to the American people and the economy.