US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant spoke on President Donald Trump’s role in the Israeli war and China’s increasing aggression amid trade tensions.
In its sharpest reaction to recent US trade actions, China said on Monday it “firmly rejects” Washington’s new sanctions and urged the Trump administration to honor commitments made between the two leaders in a previous phone call.
“China firmly rejects the recent US sanctions and sanctions on China and will do whatever is necessary to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry wrote on Twitter.
Trump threatens to impose ‘massive’ tariffs on China, sees ‘no reason’ to meet with XI
Trump says Chinese President Xi Jinping knows where he stands on tariffs. (Ton Molina/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“Threatening higher tariffs is not the right way to deal China“The United States should refine its approach and build on the consensus reached in the phone conversation between the two presidents,” the statement said.
Tensions escalated last week when China said Thursday it would expand export controls on rare earths. Relations took another worrying turn after becoming President donald trump A day later, it outlined its retaliatory measures against the world’s second largest economy.
The currency tit-for-tat between the world’s two largest economies sent markets tumbling on Friday and added new tensions to an already fragile relationship.
‘Don’t worry about China’, Trump says after Beijing responds to 100% tariff threat
Treasury Secretary Scott Besant told Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo on Monday that there was substantial communication between Washington and Beijing over the weekend.
Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said he expected a meeting between Trump and Xi to take place later this month. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images/Getty Images)
He also said that more discussions and meetings are expected between Trump and the Chinese leader Xi Jinping Still on track in South Korea at month’s end.
However, it is unclear how Besant’s upbeat assessment of US-China communications matches up with Beijing’s aggressive tone in its latest statement.
Click here to get Fox Business instantly
President Donald Trump has previously said that he does not want to get involved in a trade war with China. (Win McNamee/Getty Images/Getty Images)
“We have reduced the tension to a great extent,” Besant said during an interview on “Mornings with Maria.”
“It’s not necessary to have 100% tariffs,” he said, adding that the Trump administration would not move to impose them before Nov. 1.
“Despite this announcement last week, relations are good. Lines of communication have reopened, so we’ll see where this goes.”
