Bessent says U.S., China trade teams will meet in 2 or 3 months
發佈日期: 2025-08-13 21:43
TVB News
Chinese authorities have moved to exempt some American firms from export curbs following the extension of the two countries' trade truce.
While no substantial deal is in place yet, U.S. treasury chief Scott Bessent has said in an interview negotiators from both sides may meet within the next two or three months.
This as Beijing reiterated it has a clear and consistent stance on China-U.S. relations and economic issues.
The Ministry of Commerce in Beijing earlier this week announced that China and the U.S. will renew their tariff pause for another 90 days, simultaneously as Donald Trump declared the extension on social media.
On Tuesday, the ministry confirmed it would extend relief to American companies who were placed on an export control list and an unreliable entities list.
Beijing had restricted the export of dual-use items and prohibited certain firms from trading or investing in China following Trump's tariff blitz in April, but now some of those restrictions would be lifted, while others would be given another 90-day extension.
Securing a trade agreement with China still remains unfinished business for the Trump administration.
This despite a slew of trading partners including the European Union, Japan and South Korea pledged investments worth billions of dollars in the U.S. in exchange for lower tariff rates under new deals.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trump's point man on tariff issues, reportedly dismissed the possibility that the prospective deal with China would encompass its investment in America.
He said on a television program that Washington is trying to deal with "several variables."
Bessent said: "China, it's like a multi-level chess game because traditionally our biggest economic rivals have been our allies. With China, we've never seen anything like this in modern times. It's our biggest economic rival and our biggest military rival. So we're solving for several variables here. What we are trying to do is to get to more balanced trade."
Bessent noted he's eyeing to meet with Beijing officials soon for discussions on the future of their economic relationship.
He said, "President Trump has an excellent relationship with Party Chair Xi. So that's very helpful. We'll be meeting with the counterparts again within the next two or three months, and we'll go from there."
Bessent claimed Xi had invited Trump to a meeting, but "there's no date," as the U.S. president "hasn't accepted yet."
In addition, the U.S. will need to see "months, if not quarters, if not a year" of progress on tackling fentanyl flows before it considers cutting tariffs on China, according to Bessent.
Meanwhile, New Delhi is facing concerted pressures from the 25 percent U.S. levy that Trump enacted on August 7th, and an additional 25 percent set to go into effect on August 27th.
India's manufacturing and export leaders warned the hike could bring huge distress to industries and are calling for both nations to negotiate equitable solutions.
Local media reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will likely hold talks with Trump next month during his visit to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
The report says the key objective will be to "iron out the issues on trade and arrive at a common ground on tariffs."
