Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday morning brushed off reports that China planned to raise tariffs on U.S. goods in retaliation to President Donald Trump's tariffs.
China again vowed to "fight to the end" Wednesday in an escalating trade war with the U.S. as it announced it would raise tariffs on American goods to 84% from Thursday.
"I think it's unfortunate that the Chinese actually don't want to come and negotiate, because they are the worst offenders in the international trading system," Bessent said in an interview Wednesday.
"Their exports to the U.S. are five times our exports to China," Bessent said in the Fox Business interview. "They can raise their tariffs, but so what?"
Beijing also added an array of countermeasures after Trump raised the total tariff on imports from China to 104%. China said it was launching an additional suit against the U.S. at the World Trade Organization and placed further restrictions on American companies' trade with Chinese companies.
Bessent also downplayed "swings in the bond market."
Specifically, Bessent said about the swings: "I believe there is nothing systemic about this," describing it as "uncomfortable but normal deleveraging," Tony Romm, The New York Times correspondent, posted on X.
Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in compiling this report.