Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is determined to ignore hiccups in the bond market over the past few days, writing it off as standard practice.
At Davos this morning, Bessent was asked how concerned he was by the notion that European investors may start selling U.S. Treasuries in response to the White House’s rhetoric over Greenland. The Treasury secretary responded: “Denmark’s investment in U.S. Treasury bonds, like Denmark itself, is irrelevant.”
“That is less than $100 million. They’ve been selling Treasuries for years, I’m not concerned at all,” he added, per CNBC.
U.S. bond yields have ticked steadily higher over the past week. Seven days ago, 10-year Treasuries stood at 4.14% and, at the time of writing, have sharply increased to 4.27%, signaling buyers are exiting the market, pushing up yields as a result. The increase can be seen even more acutely at the long end of the curve: 30-year Treasuries now sit at 4.9% (closing in on a crucial threshold of 5% yields), up from 4.78% only a few days ago.
This shift echoes notes from banks over the past few days, which warned that foreign investors may leverage America’s debt burden against the Oval Office’s plans to buy Greenland. While the biggest buyer of U.S. debt is its own central bank, it is also reliant on foreign governments and private investors to fund its spending.
