U.S.–China trade tensions appeared to escalate on Oct. 14 after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused Beijing of trying to damage the global economy by imposing new export controls on rare earths.
Meanwhile, China’s commerce ministry accused Washington of intimidation by threatening new tariffs.
Bessent told The Financial Times on Oct. 14 that China’s latest round of export controls on rare earth minerals, on which the United States is highly dependent in various sectors, including defense, amounts to undermining the global economy.
He said the export curbs are “a sign of how weak their economy is” and that by imposing them, “they want to pull everybody else down with them.”…