Efforts to Diffuse a U.S. Tariff Hike

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he’ll be meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng this week to try to fend off an escalation of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods that President Trump said is unsustainable.

Bessent and He spoke on the phone late last week and engaged in what the Secretary called “frank and detailed discussions regarding U.S. and China trade.”  He said on Friday that the two will meet in person this week to continue those discussions.

The two hammered out a temporary tariff truce that will expire on November 10th.  President Trump threatened an additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports after Beijing threatened to limit rare Earth exports.

Asked if such a high tariff was sustainable and what it might do to the U.S. economy, Trump replied that, ”It’s not sustainable, but that’s what the number is, because they forced me to do that.” 

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