US pushes for joint response to China’s rare-earth curbs

Bessent says he doesn’t believe that Beijing wants to be an ‘agent of chaos’

- BLOOMBERG

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated the US is pushing for a coordinated response with major trading partners to discourage China’s planned move to control the global supply of rare earths.

“We're going to have a fulsome, group response to this, because bureaucrats in China cannot manage the supply chain or the manufacturing process for the rest of the world,” Bessent said at a CNBC-hosted forum in Washington on Wednesday.

Pointing out that “all my counterparts” are in Washington for the annual gathering of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank this week, he said, “We're going to be speaking with our European allies, with Australia, with Canada, with India and the Asian democracies.”

Germany Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil told reporters that officials from the Group of Seven industrial nations later on Wednesday will discuss a common approach to address China’s actions, while cautioning against steps that do self-harm.