US says trade row with China could ease after Trump-Xi talks
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US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are expected to discuss trade issues including a dispute over critical minerals.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE, REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - A logjam in trade talks between the United States and China could be broken once leaders Donald Trump and Xi Jinping speak, said US officials on June 1 – a conversation they said could happen soon.
President Trump on May 30 accused Beijing of violating a deal
China’s slow-walking on export licence approvals for rare earths and other elements needed to make cars and chips has fuelled US frustration, reported the Wall Street Journal on May 30 – a concern since confirmed by US officials.
But US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent seemed to take the pressure down a notch on June 1, telling CBS’ Face The Nation that the gaps could soon be bridged.
“I’m confident that when President Trump and party chairman Xi have a call that this will be ironed out,” Mr Bessent said, noting, however, that China was “withholding some of the products that they agreed to release during our agreement”.
When asked if rare earths were one of those products, Mr Bessent said: “Yes.”
“Maybe it’s a glitch in the Chinese system. Maybe it’s intentional. We’ll see after the President speaks with” Mr Xi, he said.
On when a Trump-Xi call could take place, Mr Bessent said: “I believe we will see something very soon.”
Mr Kevin Hassett, director of the White House’s National Economic Council, told ABC that the call could happen “this week” but that he had no confirmation of a scheduled time.
Since Mr Trump returned to the presidency, he has slapped sweeping tariffs on most US trading partners
New tit-for-tat levies on both sides reached three digits before the de-escalation in May, where Washington agreed to temporarily reduce additional tariffs on Chinese imports from 145 per cent to 30 per cent.
China, meanwhile, lowered its added duties from 125 per cent to 10 per cent.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox News Sunday that China was “slow-rolling the deal”, adding: “We are taking certain actions to show them what it feels like on the other side of that equation.
“Our President understands what to do. He’s going to go work it out.”
Mr Lutnick also said that a US court battle over Mr Trump’s tariff strategy – one court’s ruling to block the tariffs has been stayed pending an appeal – would ultimately end with a win for the President.
“Tariffs are not going away,” Mr Lutnick said.
‘We’ve got to be ready’
Separate from the China deal, Mr Trump said on May 30 that he would double sector-specific tariffs on steel and aluminium to 50 per cent starting on June 4 – sparking ire from the European Union, which said it would retaliate.
Mr Hassett said China’s dumping of low-cost steel was hurting US industry – which in turn was hindering US military preparedness.
“The bottom line is that we’ve got to be ready in case things don’t happen the way we want, because if we have cannons but not cannonballs, then we can’t fight a war,” Mr Hassett told ABC’s This Week.
“And if we don’t have steel, then the US isn’t ready, and we’re not preparing ourselves for something,” he added.
“We have to have a steel industry that’s ready for American defence.” AFP
