US expects support from India, other allied nations in trade tensions with China: Bessent

Washington: Amid escalating trade tensions with China over its export restrictions on rare earth minerals, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said that Washington expects support from India and other allied nations.

In an interview to Fox Business on Monday, Bessent said “this is China versus the world”. “They have pointed a bazooka at the supply chains and the industrial base of the entire free world,” he said.

“China is a command-and-control economy. They are neither going to command (nor) control us. We are going to assert our sovereignty in various ways," he said.

"We have already been in touch with the allies. We will be meeting with them this week and, you know, I expect that we will get substantial global support from the Europeans, from the Indians, from the democracies in Asia,” Bessent added.

The treasury secretary warned that the US adversary is making “provocative” moves.

“The United States is pushing for peace in the world. China is financing war,” he said.

“Trying to get leverage in front of a meeting with Donald Trump is a bad idea,” he said.

Bessent said Trump is reportedly expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea in late October.

On Sunday, Trump sought to calm fears of an escalating trade war with Beijing after threatening to impose 100 per cent tariffs in response to new Chinese restrictions on the export of rare earths that are crucial to advanced manufacturing and military technology.

The US has currently imposed 55 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that China’s economic troubles would “all be fine” and insisted that the US “wants to help China, not hurt it”.

“Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine!” Trump wrote. “Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment. He doesn’t want depression for his country, and neither do I. The USA wants to help China, not hurt it!!!” Trump's post came hours after China issued an official response to the US president's threat to impose a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese imports by November 1.

China controls about 70 per cent of global rare earths mining and nearly 90 per cent of processing capacity.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has imposed 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs on India and an additional 25 per cent levies for Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, bringing the total duties imposed on India to 50 per cent, among the highest in the world.

India has called the tariffs imposed by the US “unjustified and unreasonable”.