US raises concerns on China trade deal compliance

WASHINGTON/BEIJING – US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer spoke with China’s Vice-Premier He Lifeng, raising concerns about Beijing’s recent actions and the importance of implementing commitments made as part of a deal reached a year ago in Busan, South Korea. “Secretary Bessent emphasised the importance of China fully and immediately implementing its commitments made in Busan and raised concerns about recent Chinese actions,” according to a readout from the Treasury Department in Washington on Nov 6.“He underscored that continued progress depends on concrete results and that the United States will closely assess China’s implementation of the arrangement.”In a separate statement, Greer’s office said he emphasised during the video call the critical importance for China to take “concrete actions” to implement pledges, specifically on “agricultural purchases, rare earths, and other critical minerals.”Bessent, Greer and He met in New York days before President Donald Trump hosted China’s Xi Jinping in September, and both sides hailed those talks as productive.The leaders agreed to extend a trade truce – ensuring tariffs aren’t raised and rare earths flow smoothly – until Jan 10.China raised “serious concerns” about recent US trade and economic restrictions on the video call, Xinhua News Agency reported on Nov 7.The two sides held “frank, in-depth, and constructive exchanges” and agreed to strengthen cooperation and manage their differences, according to the report. Any inaction or destabilising of the agreement by the US or Beijing risks reviving uncertainty that worried financial markets and corporate board rooms about a prolonged trade war between the world’s largest economies.The Trump administration has sought to avoid economic confrontation that would strain the US economy heading into Nov 7’s midterm congressional elections, which handed the president’s party a huge loss.Tariff exclusions for certain Chinese products are set to expire on Nov 10, and US officials have not yet signalled whether they would extend the exclusions as part of the truce.The uncertainty has prompted outcry from industry groups, like the Consumer Technology Association, which argue that the tariff exclusions are critical to their supply chain.In an October interview, Greer told Bloomberg that the US is getting some rare earths from China, though not at the volume and pace that they agreed to.‘Quite bureaucratic’“We have elements of the Chinese government that are seem quite engaged in making this happen,” Greer said. “Other elements of Chinese government that are quite bureaucratic.”While announcing the September extension, Bessent said that “there’s been some deliverables that have not been perfect on the Chinese sides,” pointing to China being behind schedule on some agricultural commitments.The Treasury chief said at the time that Beijing has been “very fulsome” on US soybean purchases. The warning comes a little less than two weeks before Trump and Xi are expected to meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Shenzhen.Bessent has also previously indicated that he may meet with He there to hold further discussions as part of the US-China AI dialogue announced in September.Bessent is the Trump administration lead on the US’s relationship with China and has been critical of the country’s trade imbalances.When the US hosted the finance ministers and central bank governors of the world’s 20 largest economies for Group of 20 meetings in North Carolina in September, the Treasury chief criticised China for not signing off on a joint statement released at the end. “There were things on critical minerals – which China has choked off from the world – there were provisions in overcapacity and dumping, and centrally planned economies, that the Chinese didn’t want to sign on to,” Bessent said after the G-20 meetings. BLOOMBERG