No Need for Embargo-Level Tariffs on Chinese Clothes, Shoes, Bessent Says
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, after an evening announcement that he would travel to Switzerland to have trade talks with China on May 10 and 11, said that at current levels of tariffs, there's a trade embargo between the two countries.
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"We don't want to decouple, what we want is fair trade," Bessent said on Fox News. Laura Ingraham asked him why not, and he said that it makes sense to decouple in strategic industries such as shipbuilding, steel, semiconductors and medicines, but not in clothing or shoes.
"We've got to de-escalate before we can move forward," Bessent said, but declined to say whether the U.S. would roll back any of the 125% reciprocal tariffs imposed on China as the two sides escalated, or the 20% tariffs over fentanyl smuggling.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also will travel to Geneva, his office announced the evening of May 6, to talk reciprocal trade with the Swiss president, and then talk with Chinese trade officials.
As Bessent testified before the House Financial Services Committee May 7, Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., asked how far along talks with China are. Bessent had said on Fox, "what we're going to do in Switzerland, we'll agree on what we want to talk about." To Velazquez, he described the talks as a beginning.
She asked if China hawk Peter Navarro -- one of the voices in the administration arguing against ending 10% tariffs on any country -- would be part of the delegation. Bessent said no, and she replied, "Thank God for that."
In China, reporters asked a Foreign Affairs ministry spokesperson why Vice Premier He Lifeng is willing to talk with Bessent, given that earlier China had said it wouldn't talk as long as 145% tariffs were in place.
"There isn’t any change in China’s position. This tariff war is started by the U.S," the spokesperson said at a regular press conference. "If a negotiated solution is truly what the U.S. wants, it should stop threatening and exerting pressure, and seek dialogue with China on the basis of equality, respect and mutual benefit. China will firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests and international fairness and justice, and defend WTO rules and the multilateral trading system."
Ingraham, the Fox host, criticized reporters' repeated questions about empty shelves and costlier toys after President Donald Trump said that maybe families would pay a few bucks more for dolls, and families would buy three rather than 30.
Bessent said that many firms pre-positioned imports ahead of the tariffs, and that Barbie is made in Indonesia, not China. He characterized Indonesia's offered concessions, both on tariffs and non-tariff barriers, as "very strong."