2 weeks ago
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is confident that President Trump has the upper hand in the trade war with Beijing because the Chinese economy relies heavily on shipping inexpensive goods to the United States.
Mr. Bessent said Sunday that China “cannot sustain” its economic model if the tariffs make it too expensive for U.S. businesses to continue purchasing their “cheap, subsidized” products.
“If there is a sudden stop to that, they will have a sudden stop in the economy,” Mr. Bessent said on ABC News’ “This Week.” “So they will negotiate.”
Mr. Trump imposed a tariff of up to 145% on Chinese goods, betting that it would force Beijing to agree to new trade agreements that he says would help boost U.S. manufacturing.
China countered with a 125% tariff on U.S. imports. Chinese officials also have denied Mr. Trump’s claim that President Xi Jinping had called him and that his administration was in talks with China on a new trade deal.
“China and the U.S. have not held consultations or negotiations on the issue of tariffs,” Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said Friday in a news conference. “The United States should not confuse the public.”
Mr. Bessent said he had “interactions with my Chinese counterparts” at the annual Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank — “but it was more on traditional things like financial stability” and “global economic early warnings.”
“I don’t know if President Trump has spoken with President Xi,” Mr. Bessent said. “I know they have a good relationship and respect for each other, but, again, I think the Chinese will see that this high tariff level is unsustainable for their business model.”
Asked why China would deny that negotiations are ongoing, Mr. Bessent said, “I think they are playing to a different audience.”
Others have attributed the conflicting messages to Mr. Trump seeking to ease the concerns of financial markets over a trade war involving the world’s two largest economies.
They also coincide with a series of polls carrying warning signs for Mr. Trump and Republicans.
A Washington Post-ABC-News-Ipsos national poll shows Americans disapprove of how Mr. Trump is handling tariffs by a 64%-34% margin, including 70% of Independents, and 25% of Republicans.
Mr. Trump is also underwater on the economy.
Mr. Trump has stated that his tariff agenda may result in some short-term pain, but it will yield long-term benefits.
Responding to the growing backlash and market volatility, Mr. Trump said last week that his administration and Beijing were “actively” discussing tariffs.
Mr. Trump said he planned to carve out a “fair deal” with China, and said the high tariffs on Chinese goods will “come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.”
On Sunday, Mr Bessent said Mr. Trump is relying on “strategic uncertainty” in the tariff negotiations with the nation’s trading partners.
“You are not going to tell the person on the other side of the negotiation where you are going to end up, and nobody is better at creating this leverage than President Trump,” he said. “He has shown these high tariffs — here is the stick, this is where the tariffs can go, and the carrot is come to us, take off your tariffs, take off your non-tariff trade barriers, stop manipulating your currency, stop subsidizing your labor and capital and then we can talk,” he said.
English (US) ·