Bessent Sees China Progress as Soy Fight Echoes Rare-Earth Spat

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicted a “pretty big breakthrough” in the next round of trade talks with China, even as the Trump administration takes steps to support American farmers hurt by a decline in Chinese purchases of soybeans.

“The most important thing we’re going to see” is a pull-aside meeting of Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at a regional summit in South Korea scheduled for late October, Bessent said in an interview on CNBC Thursday. He added that his own parallel trade talks with Vice Premier He Lifeng, “which would be our fifth round of talks, should show ...