Bessent says Optimistic About US-China Trade

WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (Bernama-Sputnik/RIA Novosti) -- US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent expressed optimism on Wednesday about US-China trade discussions, noting that the two sides are currently engaging at a very high level.

"I'm optimistic. We are now communicating at a very high level right," Bessent told CNBC, reported Sputnik/RIA Novosti.

Damaging China's economy is not part of Washington's plan, and the United Stated believes that Beijing does not want to harm the US economy as well.

"We don't want to damage their economy. We don't believe that they want to damage ours, but they are a command and control economy, and they are going to neither command nor control us, and we're going to assert sovereignty.”

US President Donald Trump still maintains plans to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, he added.

“As far as I know, President Trump is a go on that [meeting with Xi).”

On China’s export controls, he said the United States and its allies consider responding jointly if China introduces its export controls on rare earths.

"We're going to be speaking with our European allies, with Australia, with Canada, with India and the Asian democracies, and we're going to have a fulsome group response to this, because bureaucrats in China cannot manage the supply chain or the manufacturing process for the rest of the world." 

On US-Canada trade negotiations, he said they were 'back on track' following Carney's visit to Washington.

"The President [Donald Trump] had a very good meeting with Prime Minister Carney … I think US-Canada's [trade negotiations] back on track." 

Bessent added that negotiations are also steadily progressing with South Korea, Mexico, as well as India.

On October 7, Trump hosted Carney in the White House for discussions mainly focused on bilateral trade. Although no agreement was reached, the leaders tasked their respective teams to "quickly land deals." Trump noted that reaching an agreement with Canada is not an easy task but expressed hope that it would be a "comprehensive" deal. The president said that the US-Canada trade relationship is a conflicting one as both countries have similar industries.

On Friday, Carney said that Ottawa and Washington might seal sectoral bilateral trade deals in addition to adhering to a revised United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). On Sunday, media reported, citing Canadian Industry Minister Melanie Joly, that the two countries are close to finalising trade agreements across several industries.

In late July, Trump signed an executive order to increase tariffs on Canadian goods that are not compliant with the USMCA from 25 per cent to 35 per cent effective August 1, after the neighbouring countries failed to reach an agreement within the deadline set by Washington.

On August 22, Carney announced Ottawa's decision to lift, effective September 1, all retaliatory tariffs imposed on US-made goods covered by the USMCA. However, duties on US steel and aluminum products, as well as automobiles, are to remain in place until issues are resolved.

Meanwhile, the ongoing government shutdown in the United States is causing up to US$15 billion in losses to the country's economy on a daily basis, said Bessent.

"I've seen numbers that are starting to hurt the economy, maybe up to US$15 billion a day," he said, when asked whether the shutdown was hurting the economy.

The new US fiscal year began on October 1, but Congress failed to approve a budget, leaving the government unable to function. He claimed that the Democrats' position created the budget impasse, and the White House is exploiting the current situation to eliminate programmes that Republicans dislike.

The US dollar has fallen by 6.7 per cent this year, but a smaller trade deficit is likely to help strengthen it, US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said on Wednesday.

"It is down 6.7 per cent," Bessent said. "We are starting to see the US trade deficit start to contract. So, that should be very supportive for the dollar."

--BERNAMA-SPUTNIK/RIA NOVOSTI

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