Treasury Secretary Bessent calls on China to lead trade war de-escalation

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on April 28 put the responsibility for reaching a trade agreement on China. He argued China should be liable because it sells five times more to the U.S. than the U.S. sells to them, making their tariffs unsustainable.

Bessent’s remarks came amid global tensions over the direction of tariffs following President Donald Trump’s April 2 announcement of broad-based global duties. The President later said he would keep in place 10% across-the-board tariffs, but also issued a 90-day pause for more aggressive levies against individual trading partners.

Bessent delegates responsibility for reaching a trade agreement with China

Bessent Says ‘It’s Up to China to De-Escalate’ in Trade War – Bloomberg

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said “all aspects” of the US government are in contact with China but that it’s up to Beijing to take the first step in de-escalating the tariff fight with the US due to… pic.twitter.com/4PYuWIUgr8

— Ray Wang (@rwang07) April 28, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump said last week the levies on China will “come down substantially” in the near future. He also mentioned on April 23 that they’re going to have a fair deal with China, stirring hopes of a de-escalation. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that he holds China accountable for reaching a trade agreement with the U.S. He said that the tariffs were unsustainable because China sells five times more to the U.S. than the U.S. sells to them.

“I believe that it’s up to China to de-escalate because they sell five times more to us than we sell to them, and so these 120%, 145% tariffs are unsustainable.”

-Scott Bessent, Treasury Secretary.

The Treasury Secretary acknowledged that the U.S. has made progress in negotiations since then, noting India for a potential deal in the coming days among roughly 18 “important trading relationships” that are subject to negotiations. He also maintained that they have had many countries come forward and present “some very good proposals, and we’re evaluating those.”

Trump stated last week that he was in talks with Chinese officials about trade as they visited Washington. Other reports dismissed the President’s negotiation claims and indicated that the officials instead were in town for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings. China’s Ministry of Commerce spokesperson, He Yadong, said any claims about the progress of China-U.S. economic and trade negotiations were “groundless and have no factual basis.”

The Treasury Secretary suggested over the weekend there was a potential “path” to a deal with China on tariffs after speaking with his Chinese counterparts on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank meetings. Bessent also maintained that the White House won’t be conducting negotiations in the press.

The American politician argued that European nations are likely “in a panic” over the strength of the euro against the U.S. dollar since the genesis of the trade tensions. He noted that the euro had surged nearly 10% this year against the dollar after currencies had reached near parity in early January.

Bessent believes the European Central Bank will start cutting rates to get the euro back down. He also added that Europeans don’t want a strong euro and that the U.S. has a strong dollar policy.

Trump tariffs cause a slump in shipments to U.S. ports

Trump’s trade war has caused nearly a 50% year-over-year drop at West Coast ports.

There’s a supply chain breakdown just like we saw during COVID and we’re about to get slammed with higher prices. pic.twitter.com/TWowffhyoa

— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline) April 26, 2025

Data compiled from ocean carrier manifest records by Port Optimizer showed the number of shipment arrivals this week is on track to be down by about 11% on the same week last year. The Financial Times from Vizion, a data provider, also indicated that container bookings from China to the U.S. dropped 45% by mid-April compared with a year earlier. 

The U.S. private equity group Apollo Global Management revealed that new businesses have plummeted since Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement on 2 April. The U.S. trade deficit edged to a record high in January as companies front-loaded imports before tariffs were imposed.

The research director at the trading platform XTB, Kathleen Brooks, noted that port authorities in the U.S. and logistics firms are already expecting Chinese shipments to fall sharply. She also acknowledged that demand for goods from China had dropped since mid-April, suggesting that U.S. businesses have been quick to adjust to the tariffs.

The vice head of China’s state planner, Zhai Chenxin, mentioned on Monday that he was “fully confident” that Beijing would attain its economic growth target of about 5% for 2025.

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