US: The US Has Levers It Can Pull On China - Bessent

MNI London: Reuters reporting comments from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking to a CNBC forum on issues related to trade. Bessent’s comments track closely to those he made earlier this week, seeking to dial down tensions with China, while stressing that the US has 'levers' it can pull to apply pressure on Beijing if a deal isn’t reached when the tariff and export control truce expires on November 1.  

• Bessent suggests that the most recent escalation in trade tensions is due to China “planning to erect new barriers.” He says the Trump administration doesn’t “want to escalate.”
• Bessent reiterates earlier comments from USTR Jamison Greer, “The US has lots of levers that it can pull on China trade… We have semiconductors, aircraft engines, many minerals that China needs for its supply chain.” Bessent stresses, “we don't want to decouple from China.”
• Bessent downplays the government's role in strategic industries like rare earths and semiconductors, “We have to be careful not to overreach…”
• Trump yesterday said the US could halt purchases of Chinese cooking oil in retaliation for Beijing’s withdrawal from the US soybean export market, a major source of tension for Republican-leaning agricultural states. Bloomberg notes that "US cooking oil imports are tiny compared to soybean exports to China".
• Like Greer, Bessent signals a planned meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the margins of the APEC summit at the end of the month, “is a go”. He notes that “trust between Trump and Xi is a reason that this hasn't escalated.”
• Bessent says that he will present Trump with “three or four” candidates for Fed Chair in December. He notes that Trump will “take input from dozens of people” when he makes his ultimate decision. NEC Director Kevin Hasset (35% implied probability), former Fed member Kevin Warsh (19%), Fed member Chris Waller (13%), and outsider Rick Reider (11.7%) remain the frontrunners, per Polymarket.