- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said both the U.S. and China don’t want the trade war to escalate. However, he said, it’s China’s responsibility to ensure that doesn’t happen.
As the U.S. and China stare each other down amid their ongoing trade war, responsibility to end the dispute lies with Beijing, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
“As I repeatedly said, I believe that it’s up to China to de-escalate, because they sell five times more to us than we sell to them,” Bessent said Monday morning on CNBC. “So these 120%, 145% tariffs are unsustainable.”
Bessent pointed to the fact China had exempted certain U.S. goods from its 120% tariffs as evidence it did not want the trade war to continue . The exemptions the Chinese government granted are for products it deems of strategic importance, such as certain types of pharmaceuticals, aerospace equipment, and some microchips.
The exemptions “tell me they want a de-escalation,” Bessent said…