The secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, expressed the confidence on Thursday that the United States and China are on the way to a commercial pact as the deadline for key rates is approaching.
“I believe that we have the creation of an agreement,” said Bessent in an interview on “Squawk Box” from CNBC. “There are still some technical details to be developed on the Chinese side between us. I am convinced that it will be done, but it is not 100%.”
Bessent has provided no details on what one last agreement would look like with China.
However, he stressed that he had not yet discussed the issue with President Donald Trump, noting that the two parties had negotiated in Stockholm for two days in talks which he described as “hard”. Trump said he will have to personally sign any agreement with China.
“The Chinese are difficult negotiators. We are so difficult,” he said.
The two parties are currently in truce on prices after launching aggressive tasks on each other before. They have until August 12 to reach an agreement. The United States had implemented 145% of duties on Chinese imports, while China had countered with a rate of 125%.
Since then, the United States has lowered its rate to 30% while China has dropped to 10%.
The United States has expressed concern about China to buy Iranian oil and provide technology that could be used on the battlefield.
