Scott Bessent Tells Congress the Trump Admin Has NOT Held Any Negotiations With China Over Tariffs
Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent confirmed to Congress that no negotiations with China over tariffs have occurred since President Donald Trump announced his controversial new trade policy roughly a month ago.
Bessent testified before a Congressional Oversight hearing of the Treasury Department Tuesday morning and dealt with several bipartisan questions about tariff deals that Trump had promised he’d either made, or would soon make in the aftermath of his “Liberation Day” tariff announcement on April 2nd. Uncertainty over whether those deals would actually be made has led to economic trouble and genuine concerns about the growing odds of a recession.
“Secretary, let’s fast forward a year. Where do you see the U.S. with respect to tariffs and the overarching strategy? ” asked Rep. David Joyce (R-OH), who serves as chairman of the Oversight Committee. “Do you anticipate all trade deals being bilateral, or could there be multi-country trade pacts of which groups of countries agreed to a tariff schedule?”
“This will be path-dependent on our trade partners,” Bessent replied. “As I said before, there are 18 very important trading relationships. We are currently negotiating with 17 of those trading partners. China, we have not engaged in negotiations with as of yet. So I expect that we can see a substantial reduction in the tariffs that we are being charged, as well as non-tariff barriers, currency manipulation, and the subsidies of both labor and capital investment.”
Bessent’s testimony contradicts numerous public comments made by President Trump that there have been discussions and negotiations with China over a new trade deal. The Chinese Communist Party has consistently insisted that no such talks have yet taken place.
Watch above via Bloomberg.
