Treasury Secretary declared that a meeting between Trump and Xi should still be held this month and that tensions could decrease
The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, Scott Bessent, said this Monday (October 13, 2025) that the relationship between the USA and China is good and that the “it doesn’t have to happen”. The measure was announced by President Donald Trump (Republican Party) on Friday (Oct 10) in response to Beijing’s decision to apply export controls on rare earths.
Both the new North American tax and the Chinese restriction measure are scheduled to come into force on November 1st. Bessent stated that the meeting between Trump and Xi, scheduled for the end of the month in South Korea, must still be held. The Republican had said there was no reason to hold the meeting.
In an interview with Fox BusinessBessent criticized China’s new trade restriction policy. “It’s China against the world”he stated. The Treasury Secretary also said that it was a “provocative movement” and that the USA has the support of European and Asian nations – especially India – to try to prevent the measure from coming into force.
“We will not let these export restrictions go forward. […] China is open to negotiating”he declared.
If negotiations between Washington DC and Beijing do not advance, Bessent stated that the White House could activate additional mechanisms against China. One of these levers cited by Bessent is the revocation of student visas. According to him, there are almost 400,000 Chinese studying in the USA.
“We could act more aggressively than China, everything is at stake. We have substantial levers we can pull, but I’m confident this can be mitigated”says Bessent to Fox Business.
Earlier, the Chinese government asked the United States to withdraw the new 100% tariff and . The Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared that the Americans failed to comply with the agreement reached between Trump and Xi Jinping in September and that they should withdraw from the new tax to restore the good relationship between the governments.
