“I think both parties are waiting to talk to each other,” stated Bessent on the sidelines of an event in Washington.
“I would be surprised if that conversation took place,” added the Treasury Secretary when asked about reports in the American media, indicating that the White House was considering a proposal.
Scott Bessent also mentioned that the exorbitant customs duties in effect would need to be reduced as a precondition for any negotiations.
“I don’t think either party believes that the current level of customs duties is sustainable, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they were mutually reduced,” he said.
The trade war initiated by the U.S. government since Donald Trump returned to the White House has resulted in an additional 145% in tariffs on Chinese products entering the United States and 125% imposed by Beijing in retaliation on goods coming from the United States.
“This is equivalent to an embargo, and a breakdown in trade relations between the two countries does not benefit anyone,” stated the official.
“I think de-escalation is possible for both parties,” he added, echoing comments made the previous day behind closed doors but relayed to the media by a source present in the room.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that the tariffs on Chinese products would be “substantially reduced,” a declaration that positively influenced financial markets.
“There is a significant opportunity,” Bessent remarked during his speech at the event of the Institute of International Finance (IIF), where he noted that as the United States seeks to rebalance its economy towards more production and less consumption, China is looking for reduced dependency on export-led manufacturing growth and a shift towards domestic consumption.
However, he pointed out that according to recent data, the Chinese economy is moving further away from consumption and more towards manufacturing, so the Chinese economic system, with growth driven by manufacturing exports, “will continue to create even more severe imbalances” if the “status quo” is maintained.
“It is an unsustainable model that harms not only China but the entire world,” he asserted, emphasizing that China needs to change.
The stock market on Wall Street was on the rise today, following news that tariffs might be reduced and after Trump stated he had no intention to fire the chairman of the American Federal Reserve (Fed), Jerome Powell, whom he criticized in recent weeks.
At 19:28 (Lisbon time), the Dow Jones rose by 1.23%, the Nasdaq by 2.99%, and the S&P 500 registered a gain of 2.16%.
