WASHINGTON: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent traded coverage complaints with Chinese language Vice Premier He Lifeng on Friday (Feb 21), telling Beijing to do extra to curb fentanyl trafficking and rebalance its financial system, whereas listening to He is issues about President Donald Trump’s new tariffs, the 2 governments mentioned.
The highest financial officers from the world’s two largest economies agreed to maintain up communications going ahead, the Treasury mentioned in a readout of the introductory video name.
“Secretary Bessent expressed critical issues concerning the PRC’s (Individuals’s Republic of China) counternarcotics efforts, financial imbalances, and unfair insurance policies, and confused the Administration’s dedication to pursue commerce and financial insurance policies that shield the American financial system, the American employee, and our nationwide safety,” the Treasury mentioned.
Earlier, Chinese language state media reported that He expressed issues to Bessent over US tariffs and commerce restrictions on China throughout the name.
The 2 sides had an “in-depth” change of views on necessary points in China-US financial relations, and each agreed to maintain speaking on issues of mutual concern, based on a readout launched by Chinese language state media.
He, the lead China-US commerce negotiator on the Chinese language facet, and Bessent recognised the significance of bilateral financial and commerce relations, the readout added.
MORE TARIFFS
China and the US are in search of to handle their relationship because the world’s two largest economies stand on the precipice of a renewed trade war.
US President Donald Trump imposed 10 per cent tariffs on all Chinese language items in early February, citing China’s failure to curb fentanyl trafficking.
Beijing retaliated by imposing focused tariffs of as much as 15 per cent on some US imports together with power and farm gear and put a number of firms, together with Google, on discover for potential sanctions.
Trump has additionally deliberate additional reciprocal tariffs for all nations that tax US imports, a transfer that’s prone to additional escalate world commerce tensions. Throughout his election marketing campaign, Trump threatened 60 per cent tariffs on all Chinese language imports.
Trump mentioned earlier this week he expected Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit the US, with out giving a timeline for his journey.
Bessent mentioned on Thursday he would inform his Chinese language counterpart that China wanted to rebalance its financial system and rely extra on home consumption for progress and fewer on funding and exports.
“They’re suppressing the patron in favour of the enterprise group,” Bessent advised Bloomberg Tv.
SIMILAR ARGUMENTS
The US had a US$295.4 billion items commerce deficit with China in 2024, down from a peak of US$418.2 billion in 2018, the yr Trump started imposing new tariffs on some US$370 billion of Chinese language imports.
However final yr’s deficit rose US$16.3 billion from 2023 as Chinese language exporters rushed to beat a brand new spherical of Trump tariffs.
Bessent’s predecessor, former Treasury secretary Janet Yellen, met a number of instances with He lately and lodged related complaints about China’s state-led financial insurance policies.
She argued throughout a visit to China final yr that those policies were leading to excess production capacity that was threatening the viability of companies within the US and different market economies, a warning that laid the groundwork for former President Joe Biden’s steep tariff hikes on electrical automobiles, semiconductors and photo voltaic merchandise.
He and different Chinese language officers by no means accepted US extra capability assertions, arguing that China’s EV and different key industries are merely extra aggressive.
