The meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping is still very much on the table even as the two countries get embroiled in escalating trade tensions.US treasury secretary Scott Bessent on Monday said that he still expects a meeting between the two presidents.“He will be meeting with Party Chair Xi in Korea – I believe that meeting will still go ahead,” Bessent told Fox Business. He further added that the two sides have had “substantial communication” over the weekend after Beijing did not respond to US queries, likely concerning last week’s announcement on rare-earth export controls.The Chinese measures impose strict global controls on products containing even small amounts of certain rare earths, sparking a sharp response from the White House. Earlier on Friday, Trump threatened to cancel his planned meeting with Xi at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea later this month and announced an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods starting November 1, Bloomberg reported.

‘China versus the world’ — What’s next?

“This is China versus the world – they’ve aimed a bazooka at the supply chains and industrial base of the entire free world, and we’re not going to accept that,” Bessent said.The treasury chief emphasised that “we will not let these export restrictions and monitoring continue. And I believe China remains open to discussion on this.” He is also calling for “strong global support – from the Europeans, from the Indians, from the democracies in Asia,” Bloomberg quoted Bessent.Bessent also revealed that “staff-level meetings” with Chinese officials will be taking place in Washington during the annual International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings. He expects to meet China’s vice premier “in Asia” before the Trump-Xi encounter. Vice Premier He Lifeng has been Bessent’s counterpart in multiple rounds of trade negotiations this year.When asked what leverage the US could use to persuade China to reverse its export controls, Bessent said “everything’s on the table,” while expressing optimism that tensions “can be de-escalated.”