Trump aide Scott Bessent terms India an ally amid US-China tensions over rare earth, expects support

United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has accused China of “making provocative moves” and “financing war” as the trade tensions between the two countries escalate. In an interview recently, Scott Bessent also accused China of seeking to harm the global economy.

The US Treasury Secretary's remarks came after China imposed sweeping new export controls on rare earths. China is the world's leading producer of the minerals used to make magnets, crucial to the auto, electronic and defence industries.

“The United States is pushing for peace in the world. China is financing war,” he said.

In a TV interview with Fox News, Bessent said, “This is China versus the rest of the world. They announced these export controls that are going to go into effect next month, and we have aggressively pushed back against them. We're not sure where this came from, why the Chinese have decided to do it now.”

He also said that the US is expecting support from Europe and India.

“China is a command and control economy. They are neither going to command [nor] control us. We are going to assert our sovereignty in various ways. We have already been in touch with the allies. We will be meeting with them this week and, you know, I expect that we will get substantial global support from the Europeans, from the Indians, from the democracies in Asia,” he told the TV channel.

"Trying to get leverage in front of a meeting with Donald Trump is a bad idea, and he turned the tables with his two very good tweets on Friday talking about raising tariffs and implementing any sanctions that we need to," the secretary continued. “But we are communicating now. I am confident that we can move forward.”

He had also earlier said that China's controls signalled problems in its own economy. “They are in the middle of a recession/depression, and they are trying to export their way out of it.”

China’s announcement last week drew a sharp reaction from U.S. President Donald Trump, who on Friday announced a 100% tariff on Chinese goods starting November 1. He also threatened to cancel a planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at this month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

Trade tensions between Washington and Beijing have reignited in Trump's second presidency, with tit-for-tat duties reaching triple-digit levels at one point.

For now, both countries have de-escalated tensions, but the truce remains shaky.

China on Sunday accused the United States of “double standards” after Trump threatened further tariffs. The US leader later insisted that he wanted to “help China, not hurt it.”

On Tuesday, China said it was ready to “fight to the end” in a trade war with the United States, shortly before a new wave of US tariffs on wood products took effect.

(With agency inputs)