Seeing India as a possible ally against China on the issue of rare earths, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has slammed Beijing over its new export levies on minerals that are used to make magnets crucial to auto, electronic and defence industries.
China is the world's leading producer of the minerals, also called rare earths.
“This is China versus the world,” said Bessent, accusing Xi Jinping's regime of trying to harm the global economy.
Bessent has in the past been acerbic towards both India and China for their purchase of Russian oil despite the war in Ukraine.
In his latest interview with the channel Fox Business, Bessent said on Monday: “They (China) have pointed a bazooka at the supply chains and the industrial base of the entire free world. And, you know, we're not going to have it.”
Saying the US will "assert its sovereignty in various ways”, he added, “We have already been in touch with allies."
That's where he listed India: "We will be meeting with them this week, and I expect that we will get substantial global support — from the Europeans, from the Indians, from the democracies in Asia.”
{{/usCountry}}That's where he listed India: "We will be meeting with them this week, and I expect that we will get substantial global support — from the Europeans, from the Indians, from the democracies in Asia.”
{{/usCountry}}He did not expand on what he meant by support.
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Bessent's comments with regards to China — that "they want to pull everybody else down with them" — come after President Donald Trump reacted with announcing 100% additional tariffs on Beijing over its imposition of export controls on rare earths.
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Trump has also threatened to cancel a planned meeting with President Xi at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit starting later in October.
The new tension comes after both countries had de-escalated the tariff war and remained in talks for a deal.
China has accused the US of double standards on levying duties on international trade. After that, Trump has said he wanted to “help China, not hurt it”. But Beijing has been aggressive nonetheless, saying on Tuesday that it's ready to "fight to the end" the tariff war.
India, which faces massive US tariffs at 50%, finds itself in the middle of this new battle, with the US expecting it to ally with it even when PM Narendra Modi recently made an eastward move by visiting China, seeking to reset ties affected badly by border clashes about five years ago.
The US, including Trump and Bessent, have given mixed signals to India. Trump has said “tariffs” is his favourite word, but continues to use “good friend” and “great leader” for PM Modi.
For instance, at the Gaza peace summit in Egypt on Monday that Modi chose to skip, Trump showed some more bonhomie towards Pakistan, but inserted some praise for Modi too in his comments.
Talks for a Delhi-Washington trade deal will, meanwhile, continue later this week. A team of senior officials from India will visit the US.
Negotiations on the proposed bilateral trade agreement are progressing well, a top official told news agency PTI.
In February this year, just after Trump regained power, leaders of the two countries directed officials to negotiate a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). The plan was to conclude the first tranche of the pact by the fall (October-November) of 2025. So far, five rounds of negotiations have been completed, but there have been hiccups in between due to Trump's tariffs.
(with AFP and PTI inputs)