Topline
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said trade talks between China and the U.S. have stalled and a direct call between the two countries' presidents may be needed to close a deal, adding to the uncertainty around tariffs as U.S. stock futures dropped slightly in early trading on Friday.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said direct talks between Trump and Xi may be needed to close a ... More
In an interview with Fox News on Thursday evening, Bessent told Fox News host Bret Baier that talks with China “are a bit stalled,” but he believes U.S. officials will be “having more talks with them in the next few weeks.”
Bessent did not mention any specific sticking point in the trade negotiations, but said, “I think that given the magnitude of the talks, given the complexity, that this is going to require both leaders to weigh in with each other.”
The Treasury secretary said Xi and Trump have a “very good relationship” and added: “I am confident that the Chinese will come to the table when President Trump makes his preferences known.”
After the U.S. and China agreed to roll back most retaliatory tariffs on each other for 90 days after talks in Geneva earlier this month, Trump said he was looking forward to talking with his Chinese counterpart.
Bessent’s comments about stalled talks with China add to the uncertainty around the tariff situation, after an appellate court allowed the levies to remain in effect and temporarily paused a federal trade court order deeming them unlawful. The S&P 500 Futures index was down 0.12% to 5,915 points, while the tech-centric Nasdaq Futures fell 0.14% to 21,377 points. Top Chinese indexes saw steeper drops, with the Shanghai Composite nearly 0.5% down, while the Hong Kong stock exchange’s benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 1.20%.
During its daily press conference on Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry declined to comment on Bessent’s remarks. A day earlier, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was asked about the U.S. federal trade court’s decision to strike down Trump’s tariffs. She said: “China has made its position very clear: tariff and trade wars have no winners. Protectionism benefits no one and is ultimately unpopular.”