Trump admin not rushing trade deals, will talk with China: Bessent

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WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is more concerned with the quality of trade agreements rather
than their timing, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline for securing a trade deal or facing steep US tariffs.

“We’re not going to rush for the sake of doing deals,” Bessent told CNBC in an interview.

At the same time, he said the next round of US-China talks could include Chinese purchases of Russian and Iranian oil, a move that would shift the focus of trade negotiations into national security issues.

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Asked whether the deadline could be extended for countries engaged in productive talks with Washington, Bessent said US President Donald Trump would decide.

“We’ll see what the president wants to do. But again, if we somehow boomerang back to the August 1 tariff, I would think that a higher tariff level will put more pressure on those countries to come with better agreements,” he said.

On China, Bessent said there would be “talks in the very near future.”

“I think trade is in a good place and, I think, now we can start talking about other things. The Chinese unfortunately … are very large purchasers of sanctioned Iranian oil, sanctioned Russian oil,” he said.

“We could also discuss the elephant in the room, which is this great rebalancing that the Chinese need to do.”

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Bessent told CNBC he would encourage Europe to follow the United States if it implements secondary US tariffs on Russia.

On Japan, Bessent said the administration was less concerned with its domestic politics than with getting the best deal for Americans.

TRADE AND TARIFFS AS A TOOL

Bessent’s statement comes as Trump is using trade based upon higher tariffs as a tool not only to get the desired trade agreements but also for geopolitical bargaining.

That’s why Trump previously said that trade is “great for settling wars,” making the comments soon after announcing a new weapons package for Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the US president, to prove his point, yet again cited the example of brokering a ceasefire between Pakistan and India, while using trade as an incentive.

CHINA TALKS AREN’T JUST ABOUT CHINA

That’s why Bessent told CNBC, according to AFP, “I think trade is in a good place,” and “I think now we can start talking about other things”.

“The Chinese unfortunately, are very large purchasers of sanctioned Iranian oil, sanctioned Russian oil. So we could start discussing that,” he said.

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China’s position as the main buyer of Iranian oil has served as a key lifeline for Tehran as its economy is battered by international sanctions.

The world’s second biggest economy is also a key purchaser of Russian energy.

But Bessent threatened US action against those who buy Russian oil, pointing to a strategy in which “any country who buys sanctioned Russian oil is going to be subject to up to 100 percent secondary tariffs.”

This suggests that Washington might impose heavy duties on countries it finds to be buying such Russian energy exports.

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“I would urge our European allies, who have talked a big game, to follow us if we implement these secondary tariffs,” Bessent said.