The core rationale for a new H-1B policy is “An American can’t have that job, not yet,” according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. This blunt assessment clarifies why Donald Trump, despite his “America First” rhetoric, said the US needs foreign “talent.”
Bessent explained the “talent” is for “knowledge transfer.” The policy is “Come to US, train American workers, go home.”
The reason Americans “can’t have that job” is a skills gap in industries like semiconductors and shipbuilding. The US has “not built” these things “for years,” Bessent said.
The solution is to “bring in overseas workers… for three, five, seven years to train the US workers.” After that, “they can go home,” and the newly trained Americans “will fully take over.”
Bessent described this “train and return” model, where “overseas partners” teach and then leave, as a “home run” for the American worker.