The US Treasury chief emphasized the benefits of trade with China and said she’d stressed to skeptical officials in Beijing that “diversifying” supply chains in narrow areas wasn’t the same as decoupling. “This is something I am trying to communicate and believe very strongly myself,” she said. “I think that message was received.”
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen struck a positive but pragmatic tone after completing a high-stakes trip to China that aimed to reassure officials the US won’t hold back its biggest economic rival.
Yellen’s comments were delivered at a press conference capping a four-day visit to Beijing that she’d described as a mission to revive engagement between the two largest economies. Frictions between Washington and Beijing have tumbled into a tit-for-tat trade war that has seen both sides restrict exports critical to advanced technologies.
