Treasury chief says US growth may exceed 3% or 3.5% this year despite Iran war

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, April 14 (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday the underlying U.S. economy remained strong and that growth could still exceed 3% or 3.5% this year despite the impact of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Bessent has cast cuts in global growth forecasts and higher inflation projections by the International Monetary ?Fund and World Bank as an overreaction. The IMF on Tuesday cut its growth outlook due to Iran war-driven energy ?price spikes.

"I think the underlying economy remains strong," Bessent said during the WSJ Opinion Live event in Washington.

"I do think that the growth could easily exceed 3%, 3.5% this year, still."

The war has raised oil prices and shaken markets globally. It has led to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Roughly 20% of global oil and natural gas exports were shipped through the strait before the war.

Bessent also commented on U.S. tariffs on other nations, saying they could be back in place to previous levels by July after the Supreme Court ?ruled in February that President Donald Trump overstepped his authority in imposing sweeping global duties under an emergency law.

"The tariff could be back in place at the previous level by beginning of July," he said, referring to options being pursued by the Trump administration such as probes under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington, Editing by Daphne Psaledakis and Chris Reese)