China Backs South Africa's Presidency of G-20 After Rubio Snub
China expressed its support for South Africa's presidency of the Group of 20 nations, hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he'll boycott a meeting of foreign ministers from the bloc this month.
Chinese Ambassador to South Africa Wu Peng held talks with South African International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola on Thursday to discuss the two nations' bilateral relations.
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New York Post
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- New York Post
WH press secretary brushes off reports Musk ‘body-checked' Treasury chief: ‘Robust disagreement'
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Sunday downplayed reports Elon Musk 'body-checked'' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a heated meeting, calling their dispute simply a 'robust disagreement.'' Leavitt acknowledged to Fox News' 'Sunday Morning Futures' that she wasn't in the room when the April dust-up took place but contended she wouldn't call it a 'fistfight' based on what she heard second-hand about the scrum — which supposedly included Musk ramming into Bessent's rib cage 'like a rugby player.' 'I certainly wouldn't describe it as a fistfight, Maria,' Leavitt told host Maria Baritomo after the journalist characterized it as such. 'It was definitely a disagreement, although I was not there. I didn't witness it with my own eyes. Advertisement 'When this story originally broke, I said from the podium that there have definitely been healthy disagreements amongst the cabinet and Elon Musk,' Leavitt said. 3 White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Sunday downplayed reports of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Elon Musk coming to blows. Getty Images 'There were times in which they got frustrated with one another, but I think that really speaks to the heart of this Cabinet and the president's team, that they can have these robust disagreements and then still come together to do what's right for the people they are serving. Advertisement 'We have moved on from that,' Leavitt said. 'The president has moved on from it. 'And the entire administration is focusing on passing this bill,' she added of the proposed sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill Act. 'Cutting waste, fraud and abuse from our government remains a critical component of this administration's agenda.' After Musk publicly went nuclear over the bill — and onetime ally President Trump — last week, presidential buddy Steve Bannon claimed the world's richest man had scrapped with the Treasury secretary two months ago. 3 Musk exploded at President Trump publicly last week amid a series of frustrations, including over the deficit. AP Advertisement 'Scott said [to Musk], 'You're a fraud. You're a total fraud,' ' Bannon told the Washington Post, recalling how Musk then rammed into Bessent's rib cage 'like a rugby player.' Eventually, multiple bystanders in the room supposedly intervened and pulled them apart. 'President Trump heard about it and said, 'This is too much,' ' Bannon added. Bannon, a former top strategist for Trump who hosts the 'War Room' podcast, has publicly called for Musk, a South African native, to be deported and for the president to invoke the Defense Production Act to seize control of his SpaceX company in retaliation for his public broadsides against the president. Advertisement Musk has not publicly commented on the alleged altercation, nor has Bessent. There had been a prior report from the New York Times alleging that the two men got into a shouting match at the same April meeting. 3 Bessent reportedly scolded Musk for overstating the spending cuts he could find with DOGE. Getty Images During the meeting, both men had pitched different candidates to lead the Internal Revenue Service. The president ultimately backed Bessent's choice. Musk had previously publicly backed then-Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick to helm the Treasury Department over Bessent. Trump ended up making Lutnick the secretary of the Department of Commerce. The day of the April meeting, Bessent also allegedly needled Musk for falling far short of his goal of cutting government spending by $1 trillion with the Department of Government Efficiency.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump economic adviser ‘very comfortable' with a trade deal closing with China on Monday
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Sunday that he is 'very comfortable' with a trade deal closing between the United States and China after the two sides meet Monday in London. Hassett's comments on CBS' 'Face the Nation' come after President Donald Trump said last week that he had a 'very good' conversation with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and that talks with China are 'very far advanced.' Hassett said the United States is looking to restore the flow of 'crucial' rare earth minerals, which are used in the manufacturing of electronics, to the same levels before early April, when the US-China trade war escalated. 'Those exports of critical minerals have been getting released at a rate that is higher than it was, but not as high as we believe we agreed to in Geneva,' Hassett said. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will lead the negotiations in London, along with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who in May led a weekend of the trade talks in Geneva. But tensions between the nations escalated weeks later after Trump posted on Truth Social that China 'totally violated' its 90-day trade agreement, which had dialed back the tit-for-tat trade war. Under the agreement, the US temporarily lowered its overall tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, while China cut its levies on American imports from 125% to 10%. Under the agreement, China said it would suspend or cancel its non-tariff countermeasures imposed on the United States since April 2. Part of Beijing's retaliatory measures included export restrictions on some rare earth minerals, which are essential parts used in products such as iPhones, electric vehicles and fighter jets. The Trump administration on April 2 imposed sweeping 'reciprocal' tariffs on dozens of trading partners before pausing them for 90 days and lowering them to a 10% baseline. Hassett on Sunday declined to say what baseline tariffs could be in place moving forward as the Trump administration continues negotiations with trading partners ahead of the July 9 deadline. 'You could be certain that there's going to be some tariffs,' Hassett said. Lutnick told CNN's 'State of the Union' in May that 'we will not go below 10%' and to expect that baseline rate for the foreseeable future. The Trump administration has so far announced only one trade deal, with the United Kingdom. The Trump administration has touted that other countries, particularly China, will bear the burden of tariffs. Businesses and economists have warned otherwise, spurring uncertainty about consumer spending and fears of a potential recession. Amid those concerns, US inflation slowed to its lowest rate in more than four years in April. The annual inflation rate fell from a 2.4% increase in March to 2.3% as consumer prices rose 0.2%, according to Consumer Price Index data. 'All of our policies together are reducing inflation and helping reduce the deficit by getting revenue from other countries,' Hassett said. The Treasury Department reported that a record $16.3 billion was collected in gross customs duties in April, a sharp jump from the $8.75 billion that was collected in March. Since the start of the 2025 fiscal year, which began in October 2024, the United States has collected about $63.3 billion in gross customs duties — a more than $15 billion increase from the same period during the last fiscal year. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that increased tariff revenue, without accounting for effects on the US economy, could reduce total deficits by $3 trillion over the next decade. The US government deficit stood at about $2 trillion in 2024, or roughly 7% of gross domestic product, according to a June 2024 report by the CBO. Meanwhile, House Republicans' sweeping bill to enact Trump's policy agenda would pile another $3.8 trillion to the government's $36 trillion debt pile, according to recent CBO estimates. CNN's Matt Egan and Alicia Wallace contributed to this report. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
US, China to Resume Trade Talks With Focus on Rare Earth Exports
(Bloomberg) -- Supply Lines is a daily newsletter that tracks global trade. Sign up here. Next Stop: Rancho Cucamonga! Where Public Transit Systems Are Bouncing Back Around the World ICE Moves to DNA-Test Families Targeted for Deportation with New Contract Trump Said He Fired the National Portrait Gallery Director. She's Still There. US Housing Agency Vulnerable to Fraud After DOGE Cuts, Documents Warn Top trade negotiators from the US and China are set to hold fresh talks in London on Monday, offering a glimmer of hope that the world's two largest economies can defuse tensions over Chinese dominance in rare-earth minerals. Both sides have accused the other of reneging on a deal in Geneva in May where they tried to start dialing back their trade war. Relations have spiraled since President Donald Trump's return to the White House, stoking uncertainty for companies and investors. China said Saturday it approved some applications for rare-earth exports, without specifying which countries or industries were involved — after Trump said Friday that Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed to restart the flow of minerals and magnets using the materials. 'We want the rare earths, the magnets that are crucial for cell phones and everything else to flow just as they did before the beginning of April and we don't want any technical details slowing that down,' Kevin Hassett, head of the National Economic Council at the White House, said Sunday on CBS's Face the Nation. 'And that's clear to them.' US-China trade tensions escalated this year as a series of duty hikes on each other's goods sent tariffs well above 100% before hitting a pause. While the Geneva deal was meant to pave the way for a broader de-escalation, subsequent talks quickly stalled amid mutual recriminations. The US complained about a decline in shipments of rare-earth magnets essential for American electric vehicles and defense systems, while China bristled at tightened US restrictions on artificial intelligence chips from Huawei Technologies Co., access to other advanced technologies and crackdowns on foreign students in the US. Trump's reprieve on US tariffs for Chinese goods runs out in August, unless he decides to extend it. If deals aren't reached, the White House has said Trump plans to restore tariff rates to the levels he first announced in April, or lower numbers that exceed the current 10% baseline. In London, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet a Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng. Trump offered a positive spin on what has been a rollercoaster relationship since he took office in January, saying on social media that the talks should go 'very well.' While a call between Trump and Xi last week generated some hope on Wall Street for lower duties between the trading partners, investors' optimism was limited. While promising to reshape US trading relationships, the US president has reached only one new trade agreement — with the UK. The Geneva meeting underscored the challenge of deal-making between China and the US. 'There was confusion and misunderstanding or misinterpretation intentionally on both sides, depending on how you look at it, about what was agreed to,' said Josh Lipsky, chair of international economics at the Atlantic Council. 'They left too many things open to interpretation and they all paid the price for it in the intervening weeks.' After the two leaders spoke, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Trump told Xi that Chinese students are welcome to study in the US. Trump later said it would be his 'honor' to welcome them. For now, Xi appears to be betting that a reset in ties will lead to tangible wins in the weeks and months ahead, including tariff reductions, an easing of export controls and a less-fraught tone. The US and China 'just want to get back to where they were in Switzerland with a few more agreements down on paper to actually understand what is gonna be licensed, what gets permitted, what doesn't,' Lipsky said. The SEC Pinned Its Hack on a Few Hapless Day Traders. The Full Story Is Far More Troubling Cavs Owner Dan Gilbert Wants to Donate His Billions—and Walk Again Is Elon Musk's Political Capital Spent? What Does Musk-Trump Split Mean for a 'Big, Beautiful Bill'? Cuts to US Aid Imperil the World's Largest HIV Treatment Program ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
