Treasury Secretary Bessent: China is playing with a ‘losing hand’

TAKEAWAYS KEY

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview Tuesday that the U.S. has the upper hand over China as the trade war intensifies.
• "What do we lose by the Chinese raising tariffs on us?" Bessent said, "We export one-fifth to them of what they export to us, so that is a losing hand for them."
• On Tuesday, China threatened to hit back further if President Donald Trump hikes U.S. import tariffs by an additional 50%.

In an interview on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the U.S. is gaining the upper hand in the trade war with China.

"I think it was a big mistake, this Chinese escalation, because they're playing with a pair of twos," Bessent said on CNBC. "…What do we lose by the Chinese raising tariffs on us? We export one-fifth to them of what they export to us, so that is a losing hand for them."

China warned on Tuesday that it would “fight” until the end if President Donald Trump increases U.S. tariffs on imports by 50%.  

"I think you are going to see some very large countries with large trade deficits come forward very quickly," Bessent said. "If they come to the table with solid proposals, I think we can end up with some good deals."

Bessent told Fox Business on Monday that he expected Japan to get priority in trade talks "just because they came forward very quickly," which helped the Nikkei close 6% higher Tuesday.