US Treasury chief accuses China of wanting to hurt world economy

WASHINGTON — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent slammed Beijing in an interview this week, accusing it of seeking to harm the global economy after China slapped sweeping new export controls in the strategic field of rare earths. "This is a sign of how weak their economy is, and they want to pull everybody else down with them," Bessent told the Financial Times in an interview on Monday. His comments came days after Beijing imposed fresh controls on the export of rare earth technologies and items. China is the world's leading producer of the minerals used to make magnets crucial to the auto, electronic and defense industries. Trade tensions between Washington and Beijing have reignited in U.S. President Donald Trump's second presidency, with tit-for-tat duties reaching triple-digit levels at one point. For now, both countries have de-escalated tensions but the truce remains shaky. The U.S. Treasury chief claimed China's new controls signaled problems in its own economy: "They are in the middle of a recession/depression, and they are trying to export their way out of it." China has in reWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times