- Bessent said we believe in us, China does not need to decouple.
- It is said that dealing with China is more difficult than other countries.
- Bessent said China is the top economic and military competitor in the United States.
Buenos Aires: U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent criticized China’s Commerce Secretary for rejecting Donald Trump’s tariffs as a “joke.” However, he stressed that a major agreement with Beijing could still be reached during the escalation of the trade war between the two economic giants.
“There are a lot to do at some point,” Bessent asked Bloomberg TV About the possibility that the world’s largest economy might bring it together.
“It doesn’t have to be there,” he said.
Bessent stressed that an agreement with China is more difficult than a deal with other countries, because “China is both our biggest economic competitor and our biggest military competitor.”
Two of the world’s largest economies have been locked in a fast-growing fringe game since US President Donald Trump launched a global tariff attack.
Tit-for-Tat exchanges have raised the levy rate we imposed on China to 145%, and Beijing will retaliate with 125% of band imports to the United States.
The U.S. has sent mixed messages about what it wants to achieve and whether tariffs that will shock the world economy can be avoided.
The White House appears to have lowered pressure recently, listing tariff exemptions for smartphones, laptops, semiconductors and other electronic products that China is the main source.
But Trump and some of his senior aides said Sunday that the exemption was misunderstood and that only his team imposed new tariffs on many of the projects on the list were temporary.
“No one is off the hook’…especially not China, it’s the worst so far!” he posted on his truth social platform.
Bessent warned that Trump’s tariffs are no joke. ”
“These are big numbers. I don’t think anyone thinks they’re sustainable and want them to stay here.”
China’s Xi Jinping began his journey to Southeast Asia amid a visit to Vietnam on Monday – he warned that protectionism will be “all-powerful” and the trade war will be “no winners.”
Xi Jinping told Vietnam’s top leaders that we must strengthen our strategic determination to jointly oppose unilateral bullying and maintain the stability of the global free trade system and industry and supply chains. ”
The White House said Trump is optimistic about a trade deal with China, although administration officials have made it clear that they want Beijing to lend a helping hand first.
The trade war is raising concerns about a downturn as the dollar falls and investors dump U.S. government bonds, often considered safe haven investment.
