US Treasury Secretary says trade talks with China ‘stalled'
WASHINGTON: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday trade negotiations with China were 'a bit stalled' and suggested President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could get involved.
'I would say that they are a bit stalled,' Bessent told broadcaster Fox News when asked about trade talks with Beijing.
'I believe that we will be having more talks with them in the next few weeks, and I believe we may, at some point, have a call between the President and Party Chair Xi,' he added.
The world's two biggest economies agreed this month to pause reciprocal tariffs for 90 days, a surprise de-escalation in their bitter trade war following talks between top officials in Geneva.
US and China reach deal to slash trade tariffs
Under the May 12 truce, Washington agreed to temporarily reduce the tariff on Chinese imports to 30 percent from 145 percent, while China said it would lower its import duty on American goods to 10 percent from 125 percent.
'I think that given the magnitude of the talks, given the complexity, that this is going to require both leaders to weigh in with each other,' Bessent said.
'They have a very good relationship, and I am confident that the Chinese will come to the table when President Trump makes his preferences known.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
8 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Indian defence chief admits fighter jet losses to Pakistan
Listen to article India's military has officially confirmed the loss its fighter jets during the May clashes with Pakistan, marking the first official acknowledgment of air losses in the ongoing conflict. General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff of the Indian Armed Forces, disclosed the information in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Saturday, during the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. However, he denied Pakistan's tally of six Indian jets being shot down, choosing not to specify the exact number of aircraft lost. "What is important is not the jet being down, but why they were being down," Chauhan said. "Numbers are not important." His comments followed confirmation from Pakistan, including a statement by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who confirmed that the Pakistan Air Force had downed a sixth Indian aircraft, a Mirage 2000, near Srinagar on the night of May 6-7. Chauhan further discussed tactical mistakes made during the conflict, noting that the Indian military had resumed air operations just two days later and carried out long-range precision strikes. "The good part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistakes, remedy them, and implement them again," he added. While General Chauhan did not specify the number of jets lost, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Subramanian Swamy, had earlier acknowledged the loss of at least five Indian aircraft during the clash against Pakistan. READ MORE: French intelligence official confirms downing of Rafale by Pakistan Speaking on a podcast, Swamy confirmed that Pakistan had downed five Indian fighter jets, including Rafale aircraft, during the military exchange. He further commented on the performance of Indian and Pakistani jets, stating, 'Pakistan shot down five of our aircraft using Chinese fighter jets." He admitted that 'the Chinese jets had outperformed the French Rafales.' Earlier, reports from Pakistan indicated that Indian forces had suffered significant losses during the clashes, including the downing of three Rafale jets, a critical asset for the Indian Air Force. In the wake of these losses, both nations engaged in heavy air strikes, with Pakistan had declaring to have neutralised Israeli-made drones launched by India. READ MORE: US officials confirm Pakistan downed at least two Indian jets, including Rafale On the potential for nuclear escalation, General Chauhan dismissed such concerns, labelling them as "far-fetched". He emphasised that there was a significant gap between conventional operations and the nuclear threshold. Additionally, Chauhan pointed out that communication channels between India and Pakistan remained open throughout the fighting, which helped in managing the situation. "There are more sub-ladders which can be exploited for settling our issues," he said. The conflict between India and Pakistan initially escalated on April 22, after an attack in Pahalgam area of Indian-Ilegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) killed 26 people. India blamed Pakistan for the incident without providing any evidence. Islamabad denied India's claims and called for an independent probe. India then suspended the 65-year-old Indus Waters Treaty, cancelled visas, and closing border crossings leading to tit-for-tat measures by Pakistan. READ: India approves stealth jet plan amid tensions with Pakistan The military engagement further intensified with missile strikes on May 7 targeting several cities in Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, followed by Pakistan downing Indian warplanes. As hostilities increased, both countries launched military strikes, with India hitting Pakistani airbases and Pakistan retaliating by damaging Indian missile storage sites and other strategic targets. By May 10, US-led diplomatic efforts resulted in a ceasefire agreement, though both countries continue to engage in a war of narratives.
Express Tribune
11 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Trump to double US steel, aluminum tariffs to 50%
U.S. President Donald Trump walks as workers react at U.S. Steel Corporation–Irvin Works in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, U.S., May 30, 2025. PHOTO: REUTERS Listen to article US President Donald Trump said he planned to increase tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to 50% from 25%, ratcheting up pressure on global steel producers and deepening his trade war. "We are going to be imposing a 25% increase. We're going to bring it from 25% to 50% - the tariffs on steel into the United States of America, which will even further secure the steel industry in the United States," he said at a rally in Pennsylvania. Trump announced the higher tariffs just outside Pittsburgh, where he was talking up an agreement between Nippon Steel and US Steel . He said the $14.9 billion deal, like the tariff increase, will help keep jobs for steel workers in the US. The US president later posted on social media that the increased tariff would also apply to aluminum products and that it would take effect on Wednesday. Shares of steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs Inc surged 26% after the market close as investors bet the new levies will help its profits. The doubling of steel and aluminum levies intensifies Trump's global trade war and came just hours after he accused China of violating an agreement with the US to mutually roll back tariffs and trade restrictions for critical minerals. Canada's Chamber of Commerce quickly denounced the tariff hike as "antithetical to North American economic security." TRUMP PROTECTS AMERICAN STEEL 🇺🇸 "We are going to be imposing a 25% increase. We're going to bring it from 25% to 50%—the tariffs on steel into the United States of America—which will even further secure the steel industry in the United States." –President Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸 — The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 30, 2025 "Unwinding the efficient, competitive and reliable cross-border supply chains like we have in steel and aluminum comes at a great cost to both countries," Candace Laing, president of the chamber, said in a statement. Trump spoke at US Steel's Mon Valley Works, a steel plant that symbolizes both the one-time strength and the decline of US manufacturing power as the Rust Belt's steel plants and factories lost business to international rivals. Closely contested Pennsylvania is also a major prize in presidential elections. The U.S. is the world's largest steel importer, excluding the European Union, with a total of 26.2 million tons of imported steel in 2024, according to the Department of Commerce. As a result, the new tariffs will likely increase steel prices across the board, hitting industry and consumers alike. Steel and aluminum tariffs were among the earliest put into effect by Trump when he returned to office in January. The tariffs of 25% on most steel and aluminum imported to the US went into effect in March, and he had briefly threatened a 50% levy on Canadian steel but ultimately backed off. Under the so-called Section 232 national security authority, the import taxes include both raw metals and derivative products as diverse as stainless steel sinks, gas ranges, air conditioner evaporator coils, horseshoes, aluminum frying pans and steel door hinges. The 2024 import value for the 289 product categories came to $147.3 billion with nearly two-thirds aluminum and one-third steel, according to Census Bureau data retrieved through the US International Trade Commission's Data Web system. By contrast, Trump's first two rounds of punitive tariffs on Chinese industrial goods in 2018 during his first term totaled $50 billion in annual import value.
Business Recorder
12 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Pentagon chief warns China ‘preparing' to use military force in Asia
SINGAPORE: US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warned Saturday that China was 'credibly preparing' to use military force to upend the balance of power in Asia, vowing the United States was 'here to stay' in the Indo-Pacific region. The Pentagon chief made the remarks at an annual security forum in Singapore as the administration of US President Donald Trump spars with Beijing on trade, technology, and influence over strategic corners of the globe. Since taking office in January, Trump has launched a trade war with China, sought to curb its access to key AI technologies and deepened security ties with allies such as the Philippines, which is engaged in escalating territorial disputes with Beijing. 'The threat China poses is real and it could be imminent,' Hegseth said at the Shangri-La Dialogue attended by defence officials from around the world. Beijing is 'credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific', he added. Hegseth warned the Chinese military was building the capabilities to invade Taiwan and 'rehearsing for the real deal'. Trump signals fresh trade tensions with China Beijing has ramped up military pressure on Taiwan and held multiple large-scale exercises around the island, often described as preparations for a blockade or invasion. The United States was 'reorienting toward deterring aggression by communist China', Hegseth said, calling on US allies and partners in Asia to swiftly upgrade their defences in the face of mounting threats. 'Wake-up call' Hegseth described China's conduct as a 'wake-up call', accusing Beijing of endangering lives with cyber attacks, harassing its neighbours, and 'illegally seizing and militarising lands' in the South China Sea. Beijing claims almost the entire disputed waterway, through which more than 60 percent of global maritime trade passes, despite an international ruling that its assertion has no merit. It has clashed repeatedly with the Philippines in the strategic waters in recent months, with the flashpoint set to dominate discussions at the Singapore defence forum, according to US officials. Trump says China has 'totally violated' agreement with US on tariffs As Hegseth spoke in Singapore, China's military announced that its navy and air force were carrying out routine 'combat readiness patrols' around the Scarborough Shoal, a chain of reefs and rocks Beijing disputes with the Philippines. 'China's assertiveness in the South China Sea has only increased in recent years,' Casey Mace, charge d'affaires at the US embassy in Singapore, told journalists ahead of the meeting. 'I think that this type of forum is exactly the type of forum where we need to have an exchange on that.' Beijing has not sent any top defence ministry officials to the summit, dispatching a delegation from the People's Liberation Army National Defence University instead. Hegseth's hard-hitting address drew a critical reaction from Chinese analysts at the conference. Da Wei, director of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University told reporters the speech was 'very unfriendly' and 'very confrontational', accusing Washington of double standards in demanding Beijing respect its neighbours while bullying its own – including Canada and Greenland. Former Senior Colonel Zhou Bo, from the Centre for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University told AFP that training drills did not mean China would invade Taiwan, saying the government wanted 'peaceful reunification'. US defence chief looks to woo allies in Asian security forum debut Hegseth's comments came after Trump stoked new trade tensions with China, arguing that Beijing had 'violated' a deal to de-escalate tariffs as the two sides appeared deadlocked in negotiations. The world's two biggest economies had agreed to temporarily lower eye-watering tariffs they had imposed on each other, pausing them for 90 days. But on Friday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: 'China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US', without providing details. 'Priority theatre' Reassuring US allies on Saturday, Hegseth said the Indo-Pacific was 'America's priority theatre', pledging to ensure 'China cannot dominate us – or our allies and partners'. He said the United States had stepped up cooperation with allies including the Philippines and Japan, and reiterated Trump's vow that 'China will not invade (Taiwan) on his watch'. But he called on US partners in the region to ramp up spending on their militaries and 'quickly upgrade their own defences'. 'Asian allies should look to countries in Europe for a newfound example,' Hegseth said, citing pledges by NATO members including Germany to move toward Trump's spending target of five percent of GDP. 'Deterrence doesn't come on the cheap.'
