Trade talks between the US and China are “a bit stalled”, the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said.
His comment comes less than three weeks after a temporary trade truce was agreed between the world’s two largest economies, with both agreeing to reduce tit-for-tat tariffs.
Bessent told Fox News on Thursday: “I think that given the magnitude of the talks, given the complexity, that this is going to require [leaders of both the countries] to weigh in with each other”.
Donald Trump’s global tariff regime was dealt a blow on Wednesday following a ruling that he had exceeded his authority. His plans have been temporarily reinstated after the White House appealed the decision.
Both the US and China confirmed they would reduce tariffs imposed on each other’s imports earlier this month, following talks in Switzerland.
The deal involved both nations cancelling some tariffs altogether and suspending others for 90 days by 14 May.
Bessent said talks on a further deal had lost momentum, but stressed that they were continuing.
“I believe that we will be having more talks with [China] in the next few weeks and I believe we may at some point have a call between the president and [Chinese President Xi Jinping],” Bessent said on Thursday.
He added that the pair had “a very good relationship” and he was “confident that the Chinese will come to the table when President Trump makes his preferences known”.
Under the deal struck earlier this month, the US lowered tariffs imposed on goods from China from 145% to 30%.
China’s retaliatory tariffs on US goods dropped from 125% to 10%.
The US President has argued imposing tariffs on foreign goods would encourage US consumers to buy more American-made goods, bringing back manufacturing jobs while increase the amount of tax revenue raised.
They have been used by the Trump administration as leverage in negotiations as it seeks to reduce trade deficits with other nations.
A delegation from Japan are continuing trade talks with their US counterparts in Washington on Friday.
Bessent said “a couple” of US trade deals were “very close”, but “a couple of them are more complicated”.
Trump’s tariff regime remains in the balance following the decision by the US Court of International Trade, which ruled that Trump had overstepped his power by imposing the duties.
Some analysts believe it will mean countries will be less likely to rush to secure trade deals with the US.
A federal appeals court has granted a bid from the White House to temporarily suspend the lower court’s order, which Trump described as “horrific”.
“Hopefully, the Supreme Court will reverse this horrible, Country [sic] threatening decision, QUICKLY and DECISIVELY,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.–BBC
