“Not Yet”: Why the Treasury Secretary Says Americans Aren’t Ready for Top Tech Jobs

In a blunt assessment of the current American labor market, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has defended a new, temporary visa policy by declaring that American workers are not yet qualified for certain high-stakes industrial jobs. This comment was made to clarify President Donald Trump’s recent statements about the need to import skilled foreign labor. Bessent explained that the administration’s strategy is to bring in foreign experts to train US workers, explicitly stating, “An American can’t have that job, not yet.” This admission of a skills gap serves as the rationale for a policy that invites foreign talent into the country for three to seven years with the express purpose of “knowledge transfer” before they are sent home.
The context for this policy lies in the deterioration of specific US industries, most notably shipbuilding and semiconductors. Bessent argued that because the United States has neglected these sectors for years, the domestic workforce has lost the technical proficiency required to operate them. “We haven’t built ships in the US for years,” he noted, suggesting that the institutional knowledge has evaporated. To fix this, the administration plans to import foreign partners who possess these rare skills. These experts will act as trainers, mentoring American workers until they are capable of taking over the roles themselves. This “train-to-replace” model is being touted as a “home run” that secures the long-term future of American jobs.
President Trump laid the groundwork for this explanation in a recent interview where he pushed back against the notion of American exceptionalism in the labor market. When asked if the US already had enough talent, Trump repeatedly said, “No, you don’t,” and emphasized that “people have to learn.” This candid realism from the President is a departure from standard political rhetoric, which often flatters the workforce. Instead, Trump and Bessent are presenting a diagnosis of the problem—a lack of skilled labor—and a prescription: temporary foreign instruction. This alignment suggests a coordinated effort to reframe immigration as a tool for workforce development rather than a social issue.
The proposed timeline of three to seven years indicates the administration’s estimation of how long it will take to upskill the American population. It is a significant window, suggesting that the skills gap is deep and will require sustained effort to close. By limiting the visas to this duration and insisting on repatriation, the administration is trying to thread the needle between satisfying industry demands and maintaining a nationalist stance. They are telling the business community that they will get the help they need, while telling the voters that this help is temporary and will ultimately lead to more jobs for Americans.
However, the success of this policy depends heavily on the execution of the training programs. It requires a seamless transfer of complex knowledge from temporary foreign workers to permanent American staff. It also relies on the assumption that American workers are willing and able to learn these new trades quickly. The administration is betting that this temporary infusion of global talent is the spark needed to reignite the engines of American industry, proving that the “Not Yet” can eventually be turned into a definitive “Now.”