00:00A witness is United States Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Besant. The committee has received your written testimony and it will be made part of the formal hearing record.
00:09Secretary Besant, you have five minutes to deliver your remarks and you may begin when you are ready.
00:15Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Neal, and members of the committee, I'm grateful to join you today.
00:22Treasury is committed to working with Congress to improve our nation's finances, create new jobs, and strengthen the economy.
00:31We look forward to coordinating with you on the President's budget, his tax priorities, in the coming weeks.
00:38As part of this effort, I wish to highlight today the Treasury Department's efforts to advance President Trump's economic agenda on tax and trade.
00:47First, tax. I'm pleased to report the Treasury has just completed its most successful tax filing season in years.
00:57And we did so while improving efficiencies and cutting costs at the IRS.
01:04Critics of the President's efforts to modernize the IRS warned that the effort would result in a 10% shortfall in receipts.
01:13Instead, the opposite happened.
01:16April receipts this year were up 9.5% over the previous year.
01:22And receipts in May were up 14.7% over the previous year.
01:27Most remarkably, the President was able to achieve these results while reducing $2 billion in waste and planned IT spending at the IRS.
01:36This success has taken place against the backdrop of one of the most consequential tax proposals ever to come before Congress.
01:46The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or as I will call it today, O-Triple-B.
01:51The One Big Beautiful Bill will make the 2017 tax cuts permanent.
01:57This will provide individuals and businesses with certainty and build economic momentum.
02:02The legislation is squarely aimed at boosting the working and middle class and reinvigorating American manufacturing.
02:12According to the Council of Economic Advisors, the One Big Beautiful Bill will raise take-home pay between $7,800 and $13,300 for the average family of four.
02:25It will increase wages between $6,100 to $11,600 for the average worker, and it will cement no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and tax cuts for seniors.
02:38The One Big Beautiful Bill will also incentivize unprecedented investment in U.S. manufacturing.
02:44The legislation will provide 100% expensing for new factories, as well as existing factories that expand operations and support Made in America.
02:57It will streamline burdensome permitting processes that often stand in the way of new manufacturing projects.
03:06It's time for this country to start building things again, and the O-Triple-B makes this possible.
03:12The administration is grateful for the leadership of this committee in shepherding the One Big Beautiful Bill through the House.
03:21We are working closely with members of the Senate to get this legislation to the President's desk.
03:27Trade is a second topic I wish to highlight.
03:31The progress we have made on tax issues over the last four months complements the significant progress we have made in rebalancing the global economy.
03:40Since I last testified before Congress in May, the President announced the historic U.S.-U.K. trade deal.
03:49This arrangement, which creates a $5 billion export opportunity for American ranchers, farmers, and manufacturers, is a preview of what's to come.
04:00Dozens, dozens of countries have engaged the administration thus far with offers to improve their trade relations with the United States.
04:09This includes China.
04:10I have just returned in the middle of last night from successful negotiations in London with a Chinese delegation that will not only stabilize the economic relationship between our two economies, but make it more balanced.
04:27China has a singular opportunity to stabilize its economy by shifting away from excess production towards greater consumption.
04:36But the country needs to be a reliable partner in trade negotiations.
04:42If China will course correct by upholding its end of the initial trade agreement we outlined in Geneva, and I believe after our talks in London they will,
04:54then the rebalancing of the world's two largest economies is possible.
04:58By challenging the decades-old status quo on tax and trade, President Trump is breathing new life into the American economy.
05:09More than 500,000 private sector payroll jobs have been added since January.
05:15Most importantly, inflation in the U.S. is at its slowest pace since 2021,
05:22and the numbers we receive today take us back to the slowest pace since 2020.
05:30Most importantly, we are decelerating cost increases for shelter, food, and energy.
05:38After four years of price increases diminishing the U.S. standard of living,
05:43inflation is showing substantial improvement due to the administration's policies.
05:48Furthermore, the labor market remains strong with low unemployment and plentiful labor demand as job openings remain high.
05:58This strength has been exemplified in the recent performance of the stock market and consumer confidence data.
06:05The President's bold leadership on these issues has laid the ground for a golden age economy.
06:11With your help, we can build on that foundation to create even more prosperity and abundance for the American people.
06:19We hope you will enjoy us, will join us in this endeavor.
06:24Thank you all, and I look forward to your questions.
