Treasury Secretary Bessent says it’s up to China to de-escalate trade tensions
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emphasized on Monday that the onus is on China to reach a trade agreement.
“I believe that it’s up to China to de-escalate, because they sell five times more to us than we sell to them, and so these 120%, 145% tariffs are unsustainable,” Bessent said during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
His remarks come at a time when markets are uncertain about the future of tariffs following President Donald Trump’s announcement of global duties on April 2. A week later, Trump stated that he would maintain 10% across-the-board tariffs but postpone more aggressive levies against individual trading partners for 90 days.
Bessent mentioned that progress has been made in negotiations, particularly with India, which could lead to a deal in the coming days among 15 to 18 “important trading relationships” currently under negotiation.
“We’ve had many countries come forward and present some very good proposals, and we’re evaluating those,” he added.
“I would guess that India would be one of the first trade deals we would sign. So watch this space,” Bessent concluded.
Aside from addressing the situation with China and other Asian nations, Bessent also pointed out that European countries are likely “in a panic” due to the euro’s strength against the U.S. dollar amid trade tensions. The euro has appreciated nearly 10% against the dollar this year after both currencies were almost equal in early January.
“You’re going to see the [European Central Bank] start cutting rates to try to get the euro back down,” Bessent predicted. “Europeans don’t want a strong euro. We have a strong-dollar policy.”
Recent statements from administration officials have been conflicting regarding the status of negotiations.
While Trump mentioned last week that discussions with Chinese officials were ongoing, reports indicated that negotiations were not taking place as the officials were in Washington for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings.
Bessent clarified that the White House will not be engaging in negotiations through the media.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct that International Monetary Fund meetings took place last week.
