US and Chinese sides close to trade deal, Bessent and Li say
發佈日期: 2025-10-27 22:06
TVB News
China and the United States have reached a basic consensus for a trade deal that would address each country's concerns, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
In an interview, Bessent said he and his Chinese counterpart Li Chenggang have prepared a framework for trade talks between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in South Korea on Thursday.
Three-figure tariffs have been the focal point of US-China trade tensions since President Trump took office.
Despite the American threat of 100 percent tariffs still hanging over China, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested in an interview that those days are over ... as long as China plays ball.
Speaking from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Bessent said Beijing is ready to make a deal on key issues such as fentanyl and rare earth exports.
(Moderator: Mr. Secretary, do you believe that China is ready to make a trade deal?)
"Kristen, I can tell you they are because we just finished two days of negotiations and we've created a framework for the two leaders to discuss on Thursday in Korea," said Bessent.
(Moderator: President Trump had threatened to impose an additional 100 percent tariffs on China on November 1st if Beijing goes forward with a plan to put restrictions on rare earth minerals.)
"Well, Kristen, I think that's old news. President Trump gave me a great deal of negotiating leverage with the threat of the 100 percent tariffs on November 1st. And I believe we've reached a very substantial framework that will avoid that and allow us to discuss many other things with the Chinese."
(Moderator: Okay, but you're not anticipating the 100 percent tariffs?)
"No, I'm not and I'm also anticipating that we will get some kind of a deferral on the rare earth export controls that the Chinese had discussed."
Bessent said Trump and President Xi Jinping will discuss the details of any potential deal when they meet in South Korea.
Li Chenggang, China's Vice Minister of Commerce, spoke with mainland media in Kuala Lumpur, acknowledging that China-US trade and economic relations have experienced twists and turns over the past months.
He said the two sides discussed multiple issues, including export controls of rare earth, fentanyl-related tariffs, and cooperating on cracking down on fentanyl issues.
He said the two sides have reached preliminary consensus on these issues.
The Americans also want to persuade China to go back to buying soybeans from US farmers.
Benefiting for the time being are Brazilian farmers. Andrey Rodrigues said he was not planning to bolster soybean production for next year's harvest until a couple of months ago, but now he's extra hopeful.
China won't buy from the United States due to the price. Since it's more expensive there, this tariff barrier opens an opportunity for us here, he said.
Brazil's government said that between January and August, 77 million metric tons of soybeans were exported to China. During that period, China imported 17 million metric tons from the US.
