ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is meeting with finance ministers of the world’s largest economies this week at a time when the United States has disrupted the international order with aggressive tariffs on major allies and an unpopular war on Iran that is keeping gas prices high for consumers.
As Bessent opened meetings of the Group of 20 finance ministers in Asheville on Monday, he said he wants to focus on ways to grow the global economy and rein in mounting debt. But the event comes after hostilities renewed between the U.S. and Iran, and as trade friction with Canada spiked following a breakdown in negotiations that led to escalating tariffs.
Bessent told The Associated Press in an interview on Sunday that he plans to turn up pressure on Iran by sanctioning another bank, part of what he is calling “Operation Economic Outcast." The administration earlier this month took steps to limit an Egyptian bank’s operations in the United Arab Emirates. He said the administration is prepared to exact “financial violence if we have to.”
Asked by reporters Monday how long it would take for the Iranian economy to collapse, Bessent said: “I think it could be within weeks or months -- and the economy doesn’t have to collapse, we just have to have the regime come to their senses."
Bessent said the European Union had backed his sanctions efforts with “fulsome support.” On Sunday, the EU said in a statement it welcomes added economic pressure on Iran and will work with the U.S. and other partners to keep the squeeze on Iran.
France’s finance minister, Roland Lescure, told reporters he hopes there will be a global statement from the G20 on an agreed-upon path for economic growth worldwide.
He said the world economy is “a bit like the weather in Asheville -- it’s unpredictable, it’s foggy.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s finance ministry said Finance Minister Anton Siluanov met with Bessent on Monday on the sidelines of the meeting.
Asked why the Russian official had been invited back to the G20 despite the ongoing war in Ukraine -- and criticism from Europeans -- President Donald Trump said, “We like getting along with everybody.” The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Under the circumstances, it might be hard to marshal allies
Daniel Fried, a former assistant secretary of state for European affairs in George W. Bush's Republican administration, said the U.S. may "find it difficult to rally its usual friends and allies” under the circumstances.
If Bessent and other administration officials want international support, he said, they will need to “take greater care in consulting with allies and partners than the U.S. has shown in recent months.”
Bessent wants other countries to help the U.S. isolate Iran in order to force its capitulation during a war that recently crossed its six-month mark. Although the U.S. struck Iran again on Sunday, the administration has previously signaled its intention to focus on economic pressure rather than military action to achieve its goals.
So far, Trump has not followed through on threats of an “economic D-Day” for Iran, instead largely relying on warnings to Iran's trading partners. A particular challenge is China, which is the largest buyer of Iranian oil.
Bessent told the AP that “all options are on the table” in terms of sanctioning Beijing for its continued purchases.
Nicholas Mulder, a Cornell historian who specializes in sanctions, said “we might see a gradual trickle of smaller listings but a large designation of, say, a major Chinese bank would cause serious upheaval and prompt retaliation.”
But Bessent rejected the idea that the administration is reluctant to confront China, calling it “a completely false narrative." He insisted that China and the U.S. agree on the need to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
Mulder also cautioned that any disruption to global oil flows through secondary sanctions would boost inflation and force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.
“Given that Bessent’s Treasury already finds itself having to quell a growing unease in the bond markets, it will be very challenging to do the same in the sanctions enforcement space with credibility," Mulder said.
The G20 meetings are taking place in Asheville, which was devastated by Hurricane Helene in September 2024. The natural disaster killed more than 250 people and caused nearly $80 billion in damage from Florida to the Carolinas.
Bessent said Asheville — which rebuilt after the storm — was a symbolic backdrop for discussions about economic growth.
“We want the rest of the world to come along with our growth agenda, whether it’s deregulation, the energy independence, and we want to discuss global imbalances, banking regulations, some sovereign debt restructuring for developing countries,” Bessent told the AP.
He added that "the world has this mountain of debt, and we do have to grow our way out of it.”
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