US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Says China's 84% Retaliatory Tariffs Are 'Unfortunate,' Calls Them 'Worst Offenders' In International Trade

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday responded to China’s latest round of 84% retaliatory tariffs, calling the escalation “unfortunate.”

In an interview with Fox Business, Bessent leveled allegations of unfair trade against the Chinese administration, calling them the “worst offenders” of the international trading system.

“It's unfortunate that the Chinese don't want to come and negotiate because they are the worst offenders in the international trading system,” said Bessent. He added that China has the “most imbalanced economy in the history of the modern world.”

Bessent’s remarks come after China hiked tariffs on goods imported from the U.S. to 84% from 34% earlier. The Xi Jinping administration noted that the new tariffs would go into effect on Thursday.

This comes after the Trump administration upped the ante on Tuesday by hiking tariffs on Chinese goods imported into the U.S. to 104%, refusing to de-escalate from President Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ announcement.

This had previously prompted the Chinese government to respond that it would “fight to the end” if need be.

“The US threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake,” the Chinese Commerce Ministry had said.

However, Bessent thinks China’s escalatory response will not give them a victory in the trade war against the U.S.

“I can tell you that this escalation is a loser for them,” he said.

Despite the rising tensions between the U.S. and China, equity markets edged up in morning trade.

The Dow Jones gained 0.20% at the time of writing, the S&P 500 was up 0.5%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 was up 1.2%.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), which mirrors the S&P 500 index, was up 0.2% at the time of writing.

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