Finance Minister Scott Bessent said on Monday that the trade agreement made over the weekend would be another phase in the United States that rely on Chinese products.
Although the United States has been “decoupled”, which has been “decoupled” from the need for cheap imports from China for years, the process was slow and probably means that a complete break will ever mean.
Bessent, however, said that there are now certain elements of decoupling that are of crucial importance for the US interests. The United States imported almost 440 billion US dollars from China in 2024 and operated a trade deficit of $ 295.4 billion.
“We don't want a generalized decoupling from China,” he said during an interview about CNBCS “Squawk Box”. “But what we want is decoupling for strategic necessities that we could not maintain during Covid, and we found that efficient supply chains were not reliable supply chains.”
When pandemic met in 2020, demand in the United States shifted from a more focus on services. This meant more difficulties to obtain material for several products, including big ticket devices and automobiles. The technology industry was also hit with its dependence on semiconductors. What followed was an inflation boost in the United States that has not been seen for more than 40 years.
The details of the US China package are still sketchy, but US officials said that so-called mutual tariffs are suspended, even though the tasks of 10% remain in force.
“We will create our own steel. [Tariffs] Protection of our steel industry. They are working on critical drugs on semiconductors, “said Bessent.
The agreement between the two sides is essentially a 90-day break, in which the mutual tasks are stopped, although the tariff of 10% and a 20% charge remain in connection with fentanyl.
Bessent expressed encouragement for the fentanyl problem, in which Chinese officials are “seriously supporting the USA in the stop of the river of forerunner drugs”. Bessent did not state a specific date on which the next round of the talks will be held, but indicated that it should take place in the next few weeks.
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