"US and Chinese Leaders to Speak Soon… Addressing Trade Agreement Violations"

Scott Bessent, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, stated that President Donald Trump of the United States and President Xi Jinping of China will soon have a conversation regarding the trade dispute.

On the 1st (local time), he appeared on CBS and said, "I think there will be a call between the two leaders," adding, "You will see something soon." On the 30th of last month, President Trump also wrote on the social media platform Truth Social that "China has completely violated the trade agreement with the United States" and said he expects to speak with President Xi about this.

Secretary Bessent pointed out that China is still restricting the export of critical minerals and rare earths. He said, "China is withholding some products that were to be lifted at the time of the agreement with the U.S. This could be a system error within China or a deliberate measure," and insisted, "It will become clear after President Trump speaks with President Xi."

When asked if the U.S. administration is intentionally escalating conflicts with China, Secretary Bessent replied, "I do not believe it is intentional." He added, "Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reminded everyone that China was not a trustworthy partner during the COVID-19 pandemic," emphasizing, "What we want is to reduce risk, not decoupling."

A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce posted a statement on its website on the 2nd, saying, "China has taken the Geneva economic and trade talks agreement seriously and strictly implemented it," and countered, "The U.S. continued to introduce new discriminatory restrictions against China even after the talks." The spokesperson continued, "The U.S. has unilaterally and constantly started new economic and trade frictions, increasing the uncertainty and instability of bilateral economic and trade relations and blaming China for violating the agreement, which seriously deviates from the facts."

Reporter Kim Dong-hyun 3code@hankyung.com