As trade tensions with China escalate, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that the U.S. adversary is making "provocative" moves.
"The United States is pushing for peace in the world. China is financing war," Bessent said on "Mornings with Maria" Monday.
"Trying to get leverage in front of a meeting with Donald Trump is a bad idea, and he turned the tables with his two very good tweets on Friday talking about raising tariffs and implementing any sanctions that we need to," the secretary continued. "But we are communicating now. I am confident that we can move forward."
President Donald Trump sought to calm fears of an escalating trade war with Beijing on Sunday after threatening to impose 100% tariffs — up from the current 55% — on Chinese imports in response to new export curbs on rare earth minerals.
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In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that China’s economic troubles would "all be fine" and insisted that the U.S. "wants to help China, not hurt it."
"Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine!" Trump wrote. "Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment. He doesn’t want depression for his country, and neither do I. The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!"
The post came hours after China issued an official response to Trump’s threat to impose a 100% tariff on Chinese imports by Nov. 1, warning Washington not to resort to "threats" and pledging to "resolutely take corresponding measures" if the U.S. proceeds.
"This is China versus the rest of the world," Bessent said Monday. "They announced these export controls that are going to go into effect next month, and we have aggressively pushed back against them. We're not sure where this came from, why the Chinese have decided to do it now."
"They have pointed a bazooka at the supply chains and the industrial base of the entire free world. And, you know, we're not going to have it. China is a command and control economy. They are neither going to command [nor] control us. We are going to assert our sovereignty in various ways. We have already been in touch with the allies. We will be meeting with them this week and, you know, I expect that we will get substantial global support from the Europeans, from the Indians, from the democracies in Asia," he added.
Trump’s threat was initially triggered by new Chinese restrictions on the export of rare earths, or minerals that are crucial to advanced manufacturing and military technology. China controls about 70% of global rare earths mining and nearly 90% of processing capacity.
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Bessent asserted his belief that China is open to discussion on the issue, and that the U.S. is "willing to do whatever it takes" when it comes to working out a deal.
"Everything's on the table. I am optimistic that this can be de-escalated … lines of communication have been opened … But, the U.S. will not be deterred here. And, you know, as I said, this is China versus the world. And the Chinese have a different business model than we do. But there is no business model that shows it is a good idea to harm your customers. China is the largest exporter in the world, and they are dependent on trade. We do not want to decouple. We want to de-risk."
Bessent said Trump is reportedly expected to meet with Xi in South Korea in late October.
FOX Business’ Emma Bussey contributed to this report.
