The current United States-China relationship is described by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as \u201cproductive\u201d and \u201cin a very comfortable place\u201d after last week\u2019s two-hour phone call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe US relationship with China is in a very comfortable place,\u201d Bessent said<\/a> Tuesday during a trip to Sao Paolo, Brazil. \u201cWe are going to be rivals, but we want the rivalry to be fair. We do not want to decouple from China, but we do need to de-risk.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the US intends to \u201cretake sovereignty in strategic industries,\u201d citing critical minerals, semiconductors and medicines where US dependence on Chinese supply chains became evident during the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we can have a very productive relationship, but we\u2019re always going to be competitors,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m convinced that the US is winning the AI race. We have the technological lead.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn the long run, China must rebalance. The world cannot have a situation where China persistently runs a US$1 trillion trade surplus,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Just four months ago, Bessent accused<\/a> China of seeking to damage the global economy after Beijing imposed sweeping export controls on rare earths and other critical minerals, disrupting supply chains worldwide.<\/p>\n At that time (October 10, 2025), Trump threatened<\/a> to impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports and tighten US export controls on critical software, accusing Beijing of acting \u201chostile\u201d and warning that high-level talks with Xi could be called off. Both Washington and Beijing later agreed to deescalate the situation, paving a way for Trump and Xi to meet face-to-face in South Korea on October 30.<\/p>\n Last month, the US said<\/a> China had fulfilled its initial commitment to purchase 12 million metric tons of soybeans from American suppliers. Bessent also said<\/a> China was supplying rare earth magnets largely as expected, with fulfillment rates reaching about 90%, describing the situation as \u201cquite satisfactory.\u201d<\/p>\n