US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said he thinks the Trump administration can reach tariff deals with US allies as he prepares to lead negotiations with more than 70 countries in coming weeks, warning that moves to align more closely with China could backfire.
Bessent, speaking to an American Bankers Association conference in Washington DC on Wednesday, said he would take a lead negotiating role in negotiations over President Donald Trump's tariffs.
He added that despite financial market turmoil, "in general, the companies I've spoken to, people who have come, the CEOs, who have come into Treasury, tell me that the economy is very solid."
Trump's punishing tariffs, which the president says are aimed at ending US trade deficits with many countries, have upended the global trading order, raising fears of recession and wiping trillions of dollars off the market value of major firms.
Global markets fell further on Wednesday as Trump's eye-watering 104 percent tariffs on Chinese goods came into effect, and a savage selloff in US bonds sparked fears that foreign funds were fleeing US assets.
Bessent said there was great interest in negotiating with the US to lower tariffs, noting that Trump had already spoken with the leaders of Japan and South Korea, and US officials would meet with a delegation from Vietnam on Wednesday.
"I think ... at the end of the day that we can probably reach a deal with our allies, with the other countries that have been ... good military allies and not perfect economic allies.
And then we can approach China as a group," Bessent said.
He added that the sweeping reciprocal tariffs announced by Trump last week represented a ceiling for tariffs if countries didn't retaliate, but China had not heeded that advice.
"In terms of escalation, unfortunately, the biggest offender in the global trading system is China, and they're the only country who's escalated," Bessent alleged.
He did not comment specifically on China's latest retaliatory move, lifting tariffs on US imports to 84 percent, although he earlier called it a losing proposition in an interview with Fox Business Network.
Bessent cited comments from a senior Spanish government official who suggested that Europe should more closely align with China, saying, "That would be cutting your own throat."
Bessent warned that China would continue to produce too many goods and dumping them in markets elsewhere, even as the US. "tariff wall" would be keeping such goods out of the US market.
Beijing’s countermeasures also include adding 12 US entities to its export control list and placing six others on its “unreliable entities” list, affecting trade and investment flows.
China hits US with 84% tariffs
On Wednesday, Beijing sharply retaliated to the Trump trade war, announcing an increase in tariffs on American goods to a total of 84 percent, up from the previously stated 34 percent.
The Chinese Finance Ministry's declaration is set to take effect on Thursday, April 10th.
In a parallel announcement, the China Commerce Ministry unveiled further countermeasures.
Twelve US entities have been added to China's export control list, restricting the export of dual-use goods to these companies.
Additionally, six US entities were placed on the "unreliable entity" list, which allows Beijing to take punitive actions against foreign entities, including firms linked to arms sales.
The Chinese countermeasures had an immediate impact on US financial markets.
Meanwhile, a Chinese envoy at a World Trade Organization council meeting said the US tariffs infringed on the right of countries to develop, and noted that earthquake-hit Myanmar was facing an "exorbitant" 44 percent tariff and even an "uninhabited island, home only to penguins and seals" faced a 10 percent tariff.
The official said Trump’s tariffs contravened US commitments under WTO rules, and the "so-called ‘reciprocal tariff’ has set the very architecture of the multilateral trading system ablaze."
