Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed Thursday that talks between the US and China on a permanent trade deal have “stalled” since the tariff truce both nations agreed to earlier this month.
“I would say that they are a bit stalled,” Bessent said of discussions with China, during an interview with Fox News “Special Report” host Bret Baier.
“I believe that we will be having more talks with them in the next few weeks, and I believe we may at some point have a call between the president and party chair [Xi Jinping],” the treasury secretary added.
Bessent was adamant that a conversation between Trump and Xi would be necessary before any trade deal is agreed to.
“I think that, given the magnitude of the talks, given the complexity – this is going to require both leaders to weigh in with each other,” the former hedge fund manager said.
“They have a very good relationship, and I am confident that the Chinese will come to the table when President Trump makes his preferences known,” Bessent added.
The White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The US and China agreed to a 90-day pause in their raging trade war earlier this month after high-level talks in Switzerland, which included Bessent.
Under the agreement, the US dropped its 145% tariff rate on most Chinese goods to 30%, while China lowered its rate to 10% from 125%.
The agreement included a mechanism for talks toward a permanent deal to continue, according to the White House.
While talks with China have slowed, the treasury secretary indicated the Trump administration was close to striking major agreements with several other nations.
“There are a couple of very large deals that are close. A couple of them are more complicated,” Bessent said. “And as we saw with the president’s threat of 50% tariffs last Friday, the EU came to the table very quickly over the weekend – so now we’ve got the EU in motion also.”
The Court of International Trade had ruled Wednesday that Trump exceeded his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by imposing a 10% flat duty rate on dozens of countries around the world, as well as 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and 20% tariffs on China in response to illegal fentanyl trafficking.
A federal appeals court stayed the trade court’s order on Thursday as the White House appeals the initial ruling.
Bessent said the legal wrangling over tariffs hasn’t impacted negotiations.
“We’ve seen no change in [US trading partner] attitude in the past 48 hours. As a matter of fact, I have a very large Japanese delegation coming to my office first thing tomorrow morning,” the treasury secretary told Baier.
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