US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent says rising bond yields due to 'global issues'

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that rising bond yields were due to “global issues” but offered no other details about specific causes.

Bessent's comments to reporters before a congressional hearing came as U.S. 10-year Treasury yields on Tuesday hit peaks not seen since 2007.

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As the hearing got underway, several protesters stood up one after another to call for an end to sanctions on Iran and the war, forcing Bessent to stop and restart his opening statement. The people were hustled from the room.

The House Financial Services Committee hearing was nominally on the international finance system, including reforms to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, but was expected to cover a variety of more pressing issues, like the rise in global bond yields and the administration's punitive financial measures against Iran.

Bessent told the committee the administration had private discussions with China on Iranian financial links and said President Donald Trump's discussions on Iran would continue with China's Xi Jinping at a summit later this month.