Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent used striking language to defend the Trump administration’s tariff policies during a Thursday speech at the Economic Club of New York. 

“Access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American dream,” Bessent said. “The American Dream is rooted in the concept that any citizen can achieve prosperity, upward mobility, and economic security. For too long, the designers of multilateral trade deals have lost sight of this.”

The White House has championed its protectionist trade policies even amid tumult in the markets. President Donald Trump, asked Thursday about a stock market sell-off this week, answered, “I think it’s globalists that see how rich our country’s going to be and they don’t like it.”

Trump, during his Tuesday address to Congress, said that “tariffs are not just about protecting American jobs. They are about protecting the soul of our country.” 

Trump added, “There will be a little disturbance, but we are okay with that. It won’t be much.” 

The president also announced, during the speech, that “reciprocal tariffs” will kick in on April 2. “Whatever they tax us, we will tax them,” Trump explained.

Twenty-five percent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico took effect on Tuesday, but since then the U.S. president has exempted a long list of imports. Trump also slapped new duties on goods from China this week.