US Treasury secretary says trade war with China is not ‘sustainable’

By JOSH BOAK and FATIMA HUSSEIN WASHINGTON AP U S Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared in a Tuesday speech that the ongoing tariffs showdown against China is unsustainable and expects a de-escalation in the exchange war between the world s two largest economies Related Articles Hegseth pulled airstrike info from secure military channel for Signal posts NBC News reports Colorado fights Trump administration bid to help imprisoned loyalist Tina Peters Harvard sues Trump administration to stop the freeze of more than billion in grants False rumor of DOGE visit to Boulder s federal labs sparks protest Hegseth had a second Signal chat where he shared details of Yemen strike New York Times reports But in a private speech in Washington for JPMorgan Chase Bessent also cautioned that talks between the United States and China had yet to formally start Trump placed import taxes of on China which has countered with tariffs on U S goods Trump has placed tariffs on several dozen countries causing the stock domain to stumble and interest rates to increase on U S debt as investors worry about slower economic upsurge and higher inflationary pressures I do say China is going to be a slog in terms of the negotiations Bessent announced according to a transcript obtained by The Associated Press Neither side thinks the status quo is sustainable The S P stock index rose after Bloomberg News initially broadcasted Bessent s remarks The Trump administration has met for talks with counterparts from Japan India South Korea the European Union Canada and Mexico among other nations But Trump has shown no inhabitants indications that he plans to pullback his baseline tariff even as he has insisted he s looking for other nations to cut their own import taxes and remove any non-tariff obstructions that the administration says have hindered exports from the U S