On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that there are a couple of “very large” trade deals that “are close” but talks with China “are a bit stalled.” And will require direct talks between Xi and President Donald Trump.
Bessent stated, “There are a couple of very large deals that are close. A couple of them are more complicated, and, as we saw with the President’s threat of 50% tariffs last Friday, the E.U. came to the table very quickly over the weekend. So now we’ve got the E.U. in motion, also.”
Host Bret Baier then asked, “And what about China, specifically China? And that, obviously, started in a different place. How can you characterize those talks now?”
Bessent answered, “I would say that they are a bit stalled. I believe that we will be having more talks with them in the next few weeks. And I believe we may, at some point, have a call between the President and party chair Xi.”
Baier then said, “So stalled. There was a time when the President thought that that was moving forward pretty significantly.”
Bessent responded, “Again, 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. They have a very good relationship. And I am confident that the Chinese will come to the table when President Trump makes his preferences known.”