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On Monday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent left the US-China tariff deal resolution up to the latter to worry about. “I believe that it’s up to China to de-escalate, because they sell five times more to us than we sell to them, and so these 120%, 145% tariffs are unsustainable,” he said in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
His new remarks on the issue come nearly a week after a source told CNBC and
the Associated Press that Bessent predicted a “de-escalation” of the
tariff war between the US and China was coming in the “very near future”
at a private investor summit in Washington, D.C. On the same day at the time,
President Donald Trump addressed the admission, saying, high tariffs on
Chinese good will “come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.”
He even insisted that the US is “doing fine with China.” Meanwhile, the Asian country’s commerce ministry previously warned other nations against striking any deal with America that could harm China, saying it “firmly opposes any party reaching a deal at the expense of China’s interest.”
India to be the first nation to make a deal with US: Scott Bessent
These claims also follow America seemingly making progress with others in the negotiation territory. In addition to the China talks, Scott Bessent highlighted that a potential tariff deal with India was also in the making, sparking hope for 15 to 18 “important trading relationships.”
US-China tariff negotiations: Both countries riding a different narrative
The true state of the negotiations between the US and China remains mysterious as ever. Last week, President Donald Trump said that Chinese officials had even visited Washington to discuss trade. On the contrary, other reports suggested that these officials in question were actually in town only for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings, and not for negotiations.
Trump has also repeatedly maintained that China has been in touch with them. However, when confronted about any direct contact with Chinese President Xi Jinping, he evaded the conversation all together.
Bessent also argued that while Asian countries were reportedly extending their hand forward as current subjects of negotiations, European nations are in panic mode over the euro’s strength against the US dollar. “You’re going to see the [European Central Bank] start cutting rates to try to get the euro back down,” he added. “Europeans don’t want a strong euro. We have a strong-dollar policy.”
