US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a closed-door investor summit Tuesday that the tariff standoff with China is unsustainable and that he expects the situation to de-escalate.
Bessent added that negotiations haven’t started but that a deal is possible, according to people who attended his session at an event hosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co in Washington, which wasn’t open to the public or media.
The Treasury Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The US Treasury chief spoke on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s spring meetings, as finance ministers and central bankers gather to assess the fallout of President Donald Trump’s trade war.
Bessent also said the world’s top two countries essentially have a trade embargo in place, with both slapping tariffs of more than 125% on each other’s goods.
