2025-10-26 12:29
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2025-10-26 12:29
US Finance Minister Scott Bessent said on Sunday that he had reached a “very important agreement” with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng that would avoid 100 percent US tariffs on Chinese goods and postpone Beijing's introduction of rare earth export controls.
During a taped interview for NBC's “Meet the Press,” Bessent said the agreement reached in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia would allow U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to discuss further trade cooperation next week. The agenda for the talks will include more balanced trade between the United States and China, Chinese purchases of American soybeans and other agricultural products, and containing the fentanyl crisis in the United States.
Asked whether he expected the United States to follow through on Trump's threat to impose 100 percent tariffs on Chinese goods, Bessent replied: “No, I don't expect that, and I also anticipate that we will get the kind of deferral of rare earth export controls that the Chinese have been talking about.” Bessent added that the final terms would be agreed by both leaders.
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet next Thursday (October 30) in the South Korean capital, Seoul. (PAP)
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