U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday he has reached a “very substantial framework” with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng that will avoid 100 percent U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods and achieve a deferral of China’s rare earths export controls.
Bessent said during the taping of an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” program that the framework reached in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, will allow President Donald Trump and Chinese Communist Party Leader Xi Jinping to discuss further trade cooperation next week. The agenda would include more balanced U.S.-China trade, Chinese purchases of American soybeans and other agricultural products, and getting the U.S. fentanyl crisis under control.
Asked if he anticipated that the U.S. would proceed with Trump’s threat of 100 percent tariffs on Chinese goods, Bessent said: “No, I’m not, and I’m also anticipating that we will get some kind of a deferral on the rare earth export controls that the Chinese had discussed.” Bessent added that final terms would be decided by the two leaders.
President Donald Trump had threatened an additional 100 percent tariff on China from Nov. 1 over Beijing’s efforts to impose export controls on critical rare earths, ratcheting up tensions between the US and China.
U.S. officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jameson Greer, met with a delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng for the talks, which came days ahead of a highly anticipated meeting between Trump and Xi.
The two leaders are expected to meet on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea, though Beijing, unlike Washington, has yet to confirm the meeting. Earlier Sunday, Bessent said the two sides had “set the stage for the leaders’ meeting” with a “very successful framework for the leaders to discuss.”
China’s top trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, told reporters that the two sides had reached a “preliminary consensus” on areas of dispute and would seek to further stabilize the relationship. Trump also expressed confidence that an agreement was at hand.
“They want to make a deal and we want to make a deal,” he said. Trump reiterated his plan to visit China in the future and suggested that Xi could come to Washington or Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Florida.
Bessent said President Trump is expected to visit Xi Jinping in Beijing early next year, just before the Lunar New Year on Feb. 17. He added that a follow-up meeting in Washington would likely take place ahead of Xi’s visit to the U.S. for the G20 summit next fall.
Reuters and The-CNN-Wire contributed to this report.
