US Treasury Secretary Seeks Global Alliance Against China's Rare Earth Export Controls

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday emphasized Washington's intention to develop a comprehensive multinational response to China's export restrictions on rare earth elements, including planned discussions with Indian officials.

"We are going to be speaking with our European allies, with Australia, with Canada, with India and the Asian democracies, and we're going to have a fulsome group response to this," Bessent stated during a CNBC interview.

He characterized the situation as "China versus the world" rather than a bilateral "US-China problem," asserting that "bureaucrats in China cannot manage the supply chain or the manufacturing process for the rest of the world."

During a separate press conference the same day, Bessent criticized China for supporting the Ukraine conflict through its purchases of Russian energy resources.

"It is the purchase of Russian oil by China that fuels the Russian war machine. China buys 60% of Russian energy. They buy 90% of Iranian energy. So, who is fuelling the Russian war machine?" he questioned.

Despite these criticisms, the Treasury Secretary maintained that diplomatic channels with China remain open.

"I believe China is open to discussion, and I am optimistic that this can be de-escalated. We have had substantial communication with the Chinese over the past few days, and we believe that there will be more forthcoming this week," he noted.

In a Fox News interview on Tuesday, Bessent had warned that the US would not tolerate China's export restrictions, stating that "everything is on the table" for potential retaliatory measures.

"Back in early summer, we were forced to put 12 countermeasures on China that were highly affected from natural resources that are used in the making of plastics to jet engines and parts. I believe that they substantially had to ground a large part of their civilian fleet. So, we have plenty of straight brute force countermeasures that we can pull," he had explained.

Last week, US President Donald Trump threatened to impose additional 100 percent tariffs on Chinese products starting November 1, along with export controls on "any and all critical software."

Trump also suggested he might cancel his upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, accusing Beijing of "hostile" trade practices following China's expanded export controls on rare earth elements.

However, Trump moderated his tone on Sunday, stating there is no need to "worry about China" and suggesting the Chinese President just "had a bad moment."

Beijing recently strengthened its export control measures on rare-earth elements and imposed fees on US ships as Washington expanded its own export regulations.

Bessent confirmed that the planned meeting between Trump and President Xi in South Korea would still proceed.

"President Trump said that the tariffs would not go into effect until November 1. He will be meeting with Party Chair Xi in Korea. I believe that meeting will still be on," he stated.

The two countries have been engaged in trade negotiations since April, with a temporary truce set to expire on November 10.