Trump spoke just hours after Bessent dangled the possibility of extending a pause of import duties on Chinese goods for longer than three months if China halts its plan for strict new export controls on rare-earth elements. The US and China have agreed to a series of 90-day truces since earlier this year, with the next deadline looming in November.
President Donald Trump said he saw the US as locked in a trade war with China, even as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent proposed a longer pause on high tariffs on Chinese goods to resolve a conflict over critical minerals.
“Well, you’re in one now,” Trump said Wednesday when asked by a reporter if the world’s two largest economies are in for a sustained trade war if they cannot reach a trade deal. “We have a 100% tariff. If we didn’t have tariffs, we would be exposed as being a nothing.”
