WASHINGTON
\nUS Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday he expects to meet next week with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Malaysia to try to forestall an escalation of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods that President Donald Trump said was unsustainable.
\nBessent made the announcement during a White House cabinet meeting and later confirmed plans for a meeting after a call with He on Friday evening. Bessent said on X the two officials \u201cengaged in frank and detailed discussions regarding trade between the United States and China.\u201d
\n\u201cWe will meet in-person next week to continue our discussions,\u201d Bessent wrote.
\nChina state news agency Xinhua reported that He and Bessent had \u201ccandid, in-depth, and constructive discussions on major issues in bilateral economic and trade relations\u201d in a video call, and agreed to a new round of trade talks as soon as possible.
\nThe two officials previously met in four European cities over six months to hammer out a tariff truce that brought duties down from triple-digit levels for each country. That agreement expires on November 10.
\nA meeting in Malaysia would shift the venue to a Southeast Asian exporter that trades heavily with both China and the U.S. and whose goods are now subject to a 19% duty imposed by Trump. Malaysia also faces a threatened 100% U.S. tariff on its semiconductors and derivative electronics devices under a national security trade review.
\nTrump earlier on Friday blamed Beijing for the latest impasse, a dispute over China\u2019s sweeping new export restrictions on rare-earth minerals and magnets. He has threatened an additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports starting on November 1 unless Beijing scraps the restrictions.
\nAsked whether such a high tariff was sustainable and what that might do to the U.S. economy, Trump replied: \u201cIt\u2019s not sustainable, but that\u2019s what the number is.\u201d
\n\u201cThey forced me to do that,\u201d he said in an interview with Fox Business Network that was broadcast on Friday.
\nTrump also has threatened to impose new U.S. export controls that would halt supplies of \u201cany and all critical software.\u201d
\nThe new trade actions were Trump\u2019s reaction to China dramatically expanding its export controls on rare-earth elements. China dominates the market for such elements, which are essential to tech manufacturing.
\nBessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Wednesday blasted the restrictions as a threat to global supply chains.
\nTrump also confirmed he would meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in two weeks in South Korea and expressed admiration for the Chinese leader.
\n\u201cI think we\u2019re going to be fine with China, but we have to have a fair deal. It\u2019s got to be fair,\u201d Trump said on FBN\u2019s \u201cMornings with Maria,\u201d which was taped on Thursday.
\nLater, as he was preparing to have lunch at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to discuss efforts to end its war with Russia, Trump said: \u201cChina wants to talk, and we like talking to China.\u201d
\nThe softening in tone and affirmation of his intent to meet with Xi helped stem Wall Street\u2019s early losses on Friday. Major U.S. stock indexes, which have been rattled over the last week by Trump\u2019s abrupt re-imposition of steep levies on Chinese imports and by credit worries among regional banks, were up in afternoon trading.
\nWTO URGES DE-ESCALATION OF TRADE SPATS
\nThe head of the World Trade Organization urged the U.S. and China to de-escalate trade tensions, warning that a decoupling by the world\u2019s two largest economies could reduce global economic output by 7% over the longer term.
\nWTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters in an interview the global trade body was extremely concerned about the latest spike in U.S.-China trade tensions and had spoken with officials from both countries to encourage more dialogue.
\nBut tensions continued to run high, even as Trump and Xi prepared to meet.
\nBessent took aim at China\u2019s state-driven economic practices in a statement to the IMF\u2019s steering committee on Friday, urging the IMF and World Bank to take a tougher stance on China\u2019s external and internal imbalances and industrial policies that U.S. officials say have helped China build up excess manufacturing capacity that is flooding the world with cheap goods.
\nAnd China\u2019s Commerce Ministry on Friday accused the U.S. of undermining the rules-based multilateral trading system since the Trump administration took office in 2025, vowing to intensify its use of dispute settlement actions at the WTO.
\nIt also urged the U.S. to roll back measures that breach non-discrimination rules and align its industrial and security policies with WTO obligations.
\nBessent earlier in the week had accused one of He\u2019s top aides of being \u201cunhinged\u201d in recent interactions with U.S. trade negotiators. China said on Friday that Bessent\u2019s remarks \u201cseriously distort the facts.\u201d
\nReporting by Doina Chiacu, Andrea Shalal, Susan Heavey and David Lawder; Editing by William Maclean, Paul Simao, Andrea Ricci and Tom Hogue<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday he expects to meet next week with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Malaysia to try to forestall an escalation of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods that President Donald Trump said was unsustainable. Bessent made the announcement during a White House cabinet meeting and later confirmed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509475,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-509480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n