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The United States and China have reached the outlines of an agreement to ease tensions in their prolonged trade war, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday, with final details expected to be announced when Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meet later this week.
The tentative deal would avert a threatened 100 percent tariff increase on Chinese imports in exchange for Beijing postponing planned restrictions on rare earth exports for one year, Bessent told ABC's "This Week" after concluding negotiations with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in the Malaysian capital.
"The tariffs will be averted," Bessent said, adding that China will "delay that for a year while they reexamine it."
The announcement came as Trump began an Asia tour in Kuala Lumpur that will conclude with a meeting with Xi in South Korea. Bessent said he anticipated the two presidents would formally unveil the agreement at their Thursday summit.
Under the framework discussed in Malaysia, China has committed to "substantial" purchases from American farmers, a politically crucial constituency for Trump whose exports have suffered heavily during the trade conflict. China, formerly the largest market for U.S. soybeans, stopped ordering the commodity entirely as tensions escalated.
"I believe, when the announcement of the deal with China is made public, that our soybean farmers will feel very good," Bessent said.
The talks also produced what Bessent described as a "final deal" on TikTok's U.S. operations. Washington has sought to separate the popular social media platform, which has approximately 170 million American users, from its Chinese parent company ByteDance over national security concerns. Trump signed an executive order last month that would transfer control to a group of U.S. investors, many of whom are presidential allies.
"All the details are ironed out, and that will be for the two leaders to consummate that transaction on Thursday in Korea," Bessent told CBS's "Face the Nation."
The negotiations additionally addressed the fentanyl crisis, a persistent source of U.S.-China friction. Washington has accused Beijing of insufficient action against trafficking of precursor chemicals used to manufacture the deadly opioid, charges China has denied.
"We agreed that the Chinese would begin to help us, with the precursor chemicals for this terrible fentanyl epidemic that's ravaging our country," Bessent said.
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