Bessent says Trump, Xi Jinping will meet for trade talks

President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet for trade talks, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says.

The two leaders will meet at the APEC summit in South Korea, which is set for Oct. 31-Nov. 1, The Epoch Times reported.

“That’s the signal the president has given,” Bessent told Fox Business' “Mornings With Maria” on Monday.

Trump had said earlier on Truth Social that there was “no reason” to meet with Xi after China announced that it would tighten critical minerals export controls.

However, Bessent said that since then, the lines of communication have reopened, and that the U.S would reject the new restrictions.

On Thursday, China expanded export controls to cover a wide range of products that contain 12 critical minerals, requiring potential buyers of the minerals to submit applications detailing their use and denying them to chipmakers.

Trump responded on Friday with threats of 100% tariffs and export restrictions on “critical software” starting Nov. 1, calling China's move “hostile.”

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Sunday that China had “deferred” when the U.S. government called about the new restrictions. On Monday, Chinese spokespeople said that the restrictions were not outright bans and that they sought to have discussions.

Also on Monday, Bessent said that the Chinese Communist Party might have announced the restrictions to distract from its economic situation or purchase of Iranian and Russian oil, calling the move a “miscalculation.”

“I can tell you, trying to get leverage in front of a meeting with Donald Trump is a bad idea,” Bessent said, noting that Trump had “turned the tables” with two social media posts.

Bessent also said that the U.S. has additional cards it has yet to play, such as restrictions on software, financial services and sanctions.

“It was a miscalculation, but we are communicating now. I am confident that we can move forward,” he said.

“The president thinks that this may have been from a lower-level official,” Bessent added.

“The Chinese system is quite brittle, so this may not have come from Xi Jinping himself. This may have come from a Chinese hardliner. They have hardliners on their side, too, who are always trying to undermine the relationship.”

Bessent said that trade tensions had de-escalated and that the two countries are already scheduled for talks this week.

“The 100 percent tariff does not have to happen,” he said.

“There will be working-level talks this week, and I imagine that I will have some contact with my counterpart, and then the two leaders will meet. Despite this announcement, last week [was] good; lines of communication have reopened. We are going to stand firm and reject these licensing requirements, because this is for the whole world. A group of bureaucrats in China cannot tell us and our allies how to run our supply system.”