‘China will hurt most’: US trade czar attacks Beijing over ‘chaos’; Trump ready to meet Xi – The Times of India
It’s “China versus the world,” asserted US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday slamming Beijing’s rare earth export curbs, further vowing that Washington and its allies would “neither be commanded nor controlled.““This should be a clear sign to our allies that we must work together, and work together we will,” Bessent told reporters at a press conference during the IMF and World Bank fall meetings in Washington.“We do not want to decouple. We should work together to de-risk and diversify our supply chains away from China as quickly as possible,” Bessent added.His remarks came days after Beijing imposed fresh controls on exporting rare earth technologies and materials, prompting the US to threaten an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods, raising total duties to 130% starting November.Referring to internal political dynamics in China, Bessent said it was unclear whether the curbs represented a split within Beijing’s trade team but dismissed the notion that China intended to create chaos globally.“It’s very difficult to know. A Chinese official showed up uninvited in Washington and said, quote, ‘China will cause global chaos if the port shipping fees go through.’ I don’t believe China wants to be an agent of chaos,” he said.He recounted earlier threats from a lower-level Chinese trade official, “There was a lower-level trade person who was slightly unhinged here in August … saying that China would unleash chaos on the global system if the US went ahead with our docking fees for Chinese ships.”China is the world’s largest producer of minerals essential for making magnets used in the auto, electronics, and defense industries. Trade tensions between the two powers have escalated during President Trump’s second term, with tit-for-tat duties reaching triple-digit levels before a temporary truce.Bessent said Washington might consider extending the pause on higher tariffs if China delays implementing its rare earth export curbs.Trump ready to meet Xi in South KoreaIn an effort to avoid further escalation, Bessent confirmed that President Trump is ready to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month, with officials from both sides in daily contact to arrange the meeting.“It was due to trust between Trump and Xi that the trade conflict between the two countries has not escalated further,” he noted, highlighting that the countries were close to a return to an all-out trade war after China announced the expanded controls last week.Bessent rejected Beijing’s claim that its move was a response to U.S. actions: “China had clearly intended to take action ‘all along.’”He also recalled threats made in August over port fees stating that, “A lower-level Chinese trade official had threatened to ‘unleash chaos’ if the US went ahead with port fees on Chinese ships.”The situation underscores ongoing tensions over global supply chains and rare earth materials, a sector critical to technology, defense, and manufacturing worldwide.
