Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the recent rise in U.S. Treasury yields largely reflects a global increase in borrowing costs rather than an isolated loss of confidence in U.S. debt. He said he would be more concerned if investors were shifting from Treasuries specifically into German or Japanese government bonds, but that markets were instead repricing government debt broadly. The 10-year Treasury yield recently reached its highest level since 2002, while yields in Europe and Japan also climbed to multi-decade highs. Inflation concerns, heavy government borrowing, higher energy prices linked to the prolonged U.S.-Iran conflict and increased debt financing for artificial-intelligence infrastructure have contributed to the selloff. Mortgage rates have remained above 7%. Bessent said the Treasury cannot dictate market yields but can encourage investors to assess broader economic conditions rather than short-term moves. He also discussed coordinated U.S.-Japan efforts to support the yen, defended earlier U.S. financial support for Argentina, and rejected the view that AI investment is necessarily creating a speculative bubble.