Posted on 04/22/2025 9:36:56 AM PDT by Miami Rebel
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made significant comments about the ongoing tariff tensions with China at a closed-door investor summit on Tuesday in Washington.
According to Bloomberg, Bessent told attendees that the standoff with China -- which he said was essentially an embargo -- is unsustainable and that he expects it to de-escalate.
He said that while formal negotiations haven't commenced, a deal remains possible.
Risk assets have rallied on this.
My guess is that the bankers and CEOs of Wal-Mart and Target signaled that pursuing the hardline would be catastrophic.
Precisely.
You want to side with doing your business with Communist China instead of the United States of America?
Good luck with that.
My guess is China is admitting they cannot sustain the damage. They are probably seeking a “face saving” way out.
Possibly, but the quote was that he thought the trade war was unsustainable: I don’t think that he meant that it would be unsustainable to China.
Not at all.
There's no reason to think he wasn't at least talking about China if not everybody involved.
From MSNBC:
“The next steps with China are, no one thinks the current status quo is sustainable” with tariff rates at their current levels, Bessent said at a private investor summit in Washington, D.C., hosted by JPMorgan Chase.”
and:
Bessent also insisted that, despite the U.S. ratcheting up tariffs on Chinese imports to 145% and China retaliating with 125% duties on American goods, the goal of Trump’s policy “isn’t to decouple.”
and:
The U.S. Cabinet secretary noted that negotiating with China is likely to be “a slog.”
and:
But neither side “thinks the status quo is sustainable,” Bessent added.”
No doubt that Bessent’s remarks will not sit well with some.
According to the Fair/No traders China pays slave wages and sells below cost. So if China does any sell to us they would actually stem their losses.
Anyway, the rift between the Fair/No traders and Trump/MAGA just got wider.
Be interesting to see how this is spun as Trump not capitulating or how I don’t understand 4D chess with glass boards. At least I haven’t heard any of the “Trust the Plan” that was spouted during his last term.
Remember how Reagan/Bush 41 collapsed the Soviet Union?
That is PDJT’s intent w/China.
I remember it well. But we had spent the prior 50 years prior to the collapse of the USSR in a Cold War with them. We had nearly 0 trade with them and cultural isolation. We also had a defense posture and buildup that overmatched them.
Now? We are broke. There is no political will to fund the defense needed to stare down China. There isn’t even a political will to pay more for iPhones. Think we will go toe to toe with the CHICOMS in the SPacific? Nah.
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