The US administration points out Beijing's mistake. It's about rare earth metals

Beijing “made a serious mistake” by threatening to suspend the export of rare earth elements, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday in an interview with the British daily Financial Times. The politician assured that the United States would secure alternative supplies of minerals within two years.

After President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met in South Korea on Thursday, Bessent said the two countries had reached a “balance” that would allow them to operate over the next 12 months.

The minister stated that the US “has compensatory measures” and that China's advantage over the US in the rare earths sector will not last longer than 12 to 24 months. In his opinion, Beijing made a mistake by threatening to suspend mineral exports. – It's one thing to put a gun on the table and another thing to shoot in the air – Bessent commented.

While reporting on the meeting in South Korea, he mentioned that President Trump approached Xi, suggesting that he would visit China in early 2026. The Chinese leader replied to him: “It is very cold in January and February, why not postpone it (meeting) to April?”

“FT” recalled that during the conversation, China agreed, among other things, to allow American investors to take control of TikTok in the US. Bessent confirmed this, saying that “everything is finalized regarding permits and we should see a transaction soon.”

The politician stated that the US and China would sign the agreement in the coming week and expressed his belief that it would be maintained. – Naturally, there will be some difficulties (…), but I think that now we have much better communication channels – he emphasized.

Bessent said other countries have imposed tariffs on China or plan to do so. – Our trade deficit with China has fallen by 25 percent this year. China's manufacturing activity has been shrinking for seven months. Perhaps others will make similar decisions (to us), he said.

From London Marta Zabłocka (PAP)

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