Bessent says Trump tariff, tax, deregulation policies can achieve 3% growth in a year

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that he believes that President Donald Trump's tariff, tax cut and deregulation policies can get U.S. growth back to 3% by this time next year, which would help bring down U.S. budget deficits to their long-term average share of GDP.

"So we think that through deregulation, the permanence of the tax bill, we can get growth closer to something that looks like 3%," Bessent told CNBC in a live interview on the sidelines of the Milken Institute Global Conference.

Asked when that could be achieved, Bessent said, "by this time next year."

The U.S. economy contracted for the first time in three years in the first quarter amid a flood of imports to beat Trump's tariffs, and the International Monetary Fund has forecast that U.S. GDP will grow only 1.8% in 2025.