Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Says Trump’s Trade War With China Will De-Escalate In The ‘Very Near Future’

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that he expects a de-escalation in the ongoing tensions between the U.S. and China, following President Donald Trump's imposition of retaliatory tariffs of 245% on imports of Chinese goods into the country.

In his keynote speech at an event organized by the Institute of International Finance in Washington, D.C., Bessent thinks the de-escalation will happen in the “very near future.”

Bessent revealed that more than 100 countries had approached the U.S. after President Trump’s April 2 announcement, and said they responded “openly and positively” to rebalance global trade.

Bessent Sharpens Attacks Against China

Despite talking about a de-escalation, Bessent sharpened his attacks against China’s economic policies, including what he called “distortive” and “opaque currency practices.”

He also criticized China’s export-based economy, calling it an “unsustainable model.”

“China needs to change. The country knows it needs to change. Everyone knows it needs to change. And we want to help it change—because we need rebalancing too,” he said.

The Treasury Secretary added that while China’s rise has been “rapid and impressive,” the country needs to “graduate up” if it wants to play a role in the global economy that measures up to its importance.

He explained that to fix the trade imbalance, China should move away from its export-based model to a more inward-looking one. However, Bessent did not go into the details of how this would be achieved.

Apart from China, he also called for reforms at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, saying they need to be “made fit for purpose again.”

At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was up 3.00%.

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