US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued a sharp warning for China on Monday — insisting that the other country was “neither going to command nor control” America. The remarks came mere days after President Donald Trump threatened to impose an additional 100% tariff on imports and sent global financial markets careening. Beijing has since blamed the US for escalating trade tentions and insisted that the latest tariff threat was ‘hypocritical’. The POTUS is set to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month. Bessent also claimed that the United States had been in contact with allies and expected support from several countries including India.
We have already been in touch with our allies…meeting with them this week. We expect support from India and other countries…It’s China versus the world. They had pointed a bazooka at the supply chain and industrial base of the entire free world. We are not gonna have it. China is a command-and-control economy. They are neither going to command nor control,” he told Fox News.
Bessent opined that China remained open to discussion despite the recent tensions. He also warned that the US had “substantial levers” it could pull in case of dissent from the Chinese side.
“We could move more aggressively than China has done. Everything is on the table,” he added,
Trump-Xi meeting on track
The Treasury Secretary also confirmed that a planned meeting between Xi and Trump remained on track despite the recent trade tensions. Bessent said there would be staff-level meetings between the two countries in Washington and on the sidelines of World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual gatherings this week.
“The 100% tariff does not have to happen,” Bessent said. “The relationship, despite this announcement last week, is good. Lines of communication have reopened, so we’ll see where it goes,” he added.
China hits US with tit-for-tat port fees, opens antitrust probe
Ties between the United States and China had come under fresh strain last week — with Beijing announcing plans to charge American ships for docking at its ports. The decision was taken as a direct response to fees imposed by Washington and dubbed a “serious violation” of international trading principles. China also launched an antitrust investigation into American semiconductor giant Qualcomm over its acquisition of Israeli Autotalks on Friday — mere weeks after it accused US AI chip maker Nvidia of violating Chinese anti-monopoly law.
“The United States of America will impose a tariff of 100% on China, over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying. Also on November 1st, we will impose Export Controls on any and all critical software,” Trump had written in a lengthy Truth Social post.