Busan Was the Deal. Now Washington Wants Receipts: Bessent and Greer Press Beijing on Soybeans and Rare Earths
On Friday the Treasury secretary and the U.S. trade representative told China's top trade negotiator to "fully and immediately" honor its Busan commitments. Beijing answered with a condition of its own. With a Trump-Xi meeting expected at APEC this month and a Democratic Congress eyeing tariffs, here is what is at stake for farmers and factories.
By Clara Hughes
The midterms changed who holds the gavels in January. They did not change who negotiates with Beijing. On Friday morning, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held a videoconference with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, and the American message was blunt. Greer "emphasized the critical importance of China taking concrete actions to fully implement its past commitments, particularly as they relate to agricultural purchases, rare earths, and other critical minerals," the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in its Nov. 6 readout. The Treasury readout went further: Bessent "emphasized the importance of China fully and immediately implementing its commitments made in Busan and raised concerns about recent Chinese actions," and "underscored that continued progress depends on concrete results and that the United States will closely assess China's implementation of the arrangement." In diplomatic language, "closely assess"