Trump on track to meet Xi in South Korea, Bessent says

The latest rupture followed China's announcement on Thursday that it would dramatically expand its rare earths export controls. That drew a sharp countermeasure from Trump on Friday that sent markets and relations between the world's two largest economies into a spiral.

Bessent said there were substantial communications between the two sides over the weekend and more meetings were expected.

"We have substantially de-escalated," Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business Network.

"President Trump said that the tariffs would not go into effect until Nov 1. He will be meeting with Party Chair Xi in Korea. I believe that meeting will still be on."

Trump and Xi had planned to meet during the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum hosted by South Korea in late October.

The softer tone soothed a jittery Wall Street, sparked a strong rebound in U.S. stocks at the start of trading in New York on Monday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index up nearly 2% and other major indexes up about 1%.

Trump's threat on Friday sparked a big sell-off at a time when investors and top policymakers were already growing anxious about a frothy stock market fueled by an investment boom in artificial intelligence that some officials fear could hurt future employment.

Bessent said there would be U.S.-China staff-level meetings this week in Washington on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual gatherings.

"The 100% tariff does not have to happen," Bessent said. "The relationship, despite this announcement last week, is good. Lines of communication have reopened, so we'll see where it goes."