Trade deals aren't the silver bullet investors think they are

US Treasury Secretary and former hedge fund manager Scott Bessent must be some sort of poker player. As the American consumers start to wake up to the idea of shortages caused by Donald Trump's trade war, Bessent insists he's not concerned about the prospect of empty shelves. "Not at present," Bessent claimed during a round of television interviews on Monday night. "We have some great retailers, I assume they pre-ordered. I think we'll see some elasticities. I think we'll see [product] replacements, and then we will see how quickly the Chinese want to de-escalate." Loading…