WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed on Monday that President Trump’s anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping is back on track — following Trump’s dire warning of 100% additional tariffs last Friday, suggesting that there “seems to be no reason” for the upcoming summit scheduled for October 29.
Bessent stated, “He will be meeting with party chair Xi in Korea — I believe that meeting will still occur,” during an interview with Fox Business, after Beijing moved to mitigate fallout from its new export controls.
Having played a role in establishing a cease-fire in the US-China trade conflict last May, Bessent remarked on the “substantial communication” that took place over the weekend after China implemented new regulations requiring companies to obtain authorization for exporting rare-earth and critical minerals, necessary for producing batteries, magnets, and computer chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
In an effort to ease tensions between the two nations, Trump stated on Sunday that Xi “doesn’t want a depression in his country, and neither do I. The U.S.A. wants to assist China, not harm it!!!”
Furthermore, Trump reassured, “Don’t worry about China, it will all work out! Highly regarded President Xi just had a moment of difficulty,” as he expressed on a Truth Social post.
The Chinese Commerce Ministry clarified on Sunday that the new regulations are not intended to function as export bans and indicated there might be room for flexibility in enforcement, including “license exemptions to effectively boost legitimate trade.”
Bessent remarked on Fox Business, “This is China against the world — they have aimed a bazooka at the supply chains and industrial base of the free world, and we will not accept that. A cadre of bureaucrats in China cannot dictate to us and our allies how to manage our supply systems.”
Following a significant drop on Friday due to anxiety over the resurgence of a trade war, major US stock market indices showed gains on Monday morning.
Since resuming his position in January after a four-year hiatus, Trump has not had an in-person meeting with Xi. He campaigned for re-election in 2020 with a promise to “decouple” the US economy from China, and his 2024 election campaign included demands for “reparations” for the over 1 million Americans who succumbed to COVID-19.
Trump’s recent tariff measures were primarily driven by concerns over the Chinese export of fentanyl, which has led to the deaths of roughly one in every 1,000 Americans in the past five years.
