Each Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Commerce Consultant Jamieson Greer slammed China on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025, for what they name the “Chinese chokehold.” (Credit score: Treasury Division)
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Commerce Consultant Jamieson Greer spoke on Wednesday about what they consult with as a “global power grab” by China.
The Trump administration officers held a press convention throughout which they stated they’re “constantly focused on the Chinese chokehold on the world of rare earth and rare earth materials.”
Bessent insisted that Washington didn’t need to escalate a commerce battle with China, stressing that President Donald Trump is able to meet Chinese language President Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month.
When requested by FOX Enterprise’ Edward Lawrence if there was room for a constructive financial relationship with China, Greer stated, “There certainly is.”
TRUMP CALLS XI’S RARE EARTH MOVE A ‘BAD MOMENT’ — WHY IT MATTERS FOR US NATIONAL SECURITY, CHINA TIES
A employee holds a soil pattern at a Meteoric Assets uncommon earth exploration challenge in Caldas Novas, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (Victor Moriyama/Bloomberg / Getty Photographs)
“To paraphrase the secretary in one of our recent meetings with the Chinese, this is the last time we want to be talking about rare earths with the Chinese,” Greer stated. “Unfortunately, that is not the last time they want to be talking about it. The reality is, there are a lot of areas where we can trade with the Chinese. Our trade is wildly imbalanced. So it needs to be more balanced. And there is a lot of, as the secretary said, areas of risk.”
The U.S. and China appeared poised to return to an all-out commerce conflict late final week, after China on Thursday introduced a serious growth of its uncommon earths export controls.
TRUMP THREATENS ‘MASSIVE’ CHINA TARIFFS, SEES ‘NO REASON’ TO MEET WITH XI
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Commerce Consultant Jamieson Greer take questions from reporters as they ship remarks on “Game Plan for U.S. Investment” in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 15, 2025. (Brendan SmialowskiAFP)
Trump responded on Friday by threatening to lift tariffs on Chinese language items to triple-digit ranges, sending monetary markets and U.S.-China relations right into a tailspin. Bessent and different officers have sought to get ties again on observe in a sequence of interviews this week.
On Wednesday, Bessent stated China had clearly supposed to take motion “all along,” rejecting Beijing’s declare that the actions had been a response to U.S. actions.
Gantry cranes stand close to delivery containers at Yangshan Port outdoors of Shanghai, China, April 15, 2025. (REUTERS/Go Nakamura / Reuters)
Bessent stated a lower-level Chinese language commerce official had threatened to “unleash chaos” if the U.S. went forward with port charges on Chinese language ships in August.
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“There was a lower-level trade person who was slightly unhinged here in August… saying that China would unleash chaos on the global system if the U.S. went ahead with our docking fees for Chinese ships,” Bessent stated.
Reuters contributed to this report.
