ISTANBUL

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that a falling stock market won't change the US government's stance on trade negotiations or taking strong action against China.

Speaking to CNBC, Bessent said, “We won’t negotiate because the stock market is going down” or shy away from taking strong measures against Beijing for that reason.

“We will negotiate because we are doing what is best economically for the US,” he added.

Bessent also hit back at a Wall Street Journal report saying that said Chinese President Xi Jinping is "betting that the US economy can't absorb a prolonged trade conflict.”

Bessent also said that while President Donald Trump “likes a high stock market,” he “believes that the high stock market is a result of good policies.”

“It’s the policies that we’re talking about here today, in terms of this capex (capital expenditures) boom,” he said, underlining large investments in artificial intelligence.

Bessent's remarks followed several days of market volatility after China last Thursday expanded its restrictions on rare earth exports and Trump in response threatened to impose 100% tariffs on China.

But Trump later hinted that he would not carry out his pledge to impose a "massive increase of tariffs" on China, saying: "Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine!"

However, on Tuesday, Trump said that China's choosing not to buy US soybeans was "an economically hostile act."

"We are considering terminating business with China having to do with Cooking Oil, and other elements of Trade, as retribution," he wrote on his Truth Social platform. "As an example, we can easily produce Cooking Oil ourselves, we don’t need to purchase it from China."