Treasury chief says US seeks ‘fair’ China competition, eyes Latin America realignment
Scott Bessent says Washington wants to reduce security risks without decoupling from Beijing as it steps up engagement across Latin America
The United States is seeking a fair and enduring competition with China, along with strengthening its economic and political relationships with Latin America, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday. He termed this the strategy of reducing vulnerabilities without cutting ties with Beijing.
“We will be competitors, but we want that competition to be fair,” Bessent told the audience. “We do not want to decouple from China, but we need to reduce risks.”
He cited critical minerals, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals as examples of strategic areas in which the US wants greater domestic capability and supply chain diversification, noting that the global economy “cannot support a situation where China has a recurring trade surplus of about $1 trillion”, signalling that Beijing needs to change its growth model.
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Much of the secretary’s speech focused on Latin America, which he called central to US economic and geopolitical strategy.