Treasury Secretary Bessent says Trump-Xi meeting still on

Washington: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he still expects Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to meet, even as he warned that all options remain open for retaliating against China's decision to tighten exports of rare earths.

"He will be meeting with Party Chair Xi in Korea - I believe that meeting will still go ahead," Bessent said Monday on Fox Business. He added that there had been "substantial communication" over the weekend after Beijing failed to respond to US inquiries, apparently referring to questions raised about China's rare-earths announcement last week.

That move, which imposed sweeping global export controls on products containing even traces of certain rare earths, prompted Trump to threaten Friday to cancel his planned meeting with Xi at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea later this month. The president also unveiled plans to impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods beginning Nov. 1.


"This is China versus the world - they've aimed a bazooka at the supply chains and industrial base of the entire free world, and we're not going to accept that," Bessent said.

The Treasury chief emphasized that "we will not let these export restrictions and monitoring continue. And I believe China remains open to discussion on this." The US, he said, will consult with its allies this week and expects to gain "strong global support - from the Europeans, from the Indians, from the democracies in Asia."

Bessent also said "staff-level meetings" with Chinese officials will take place in Washington this week during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

He added that he personally expects to meet China's vice premier "in Asia" ahead of the Trump-Xi encounter. Bessent's counterpart in multiple rounds of trade negotiations this year has been Vice Premier He Lifeng.

Asked what leverage the US might use to pressure Beijing to roll back its export controls, Bessent said "everything's on the table," but added that he was "optimistic this can be de-escalated."