Li, during a visit to Washington in August, had allegedly threatened that "China would unleash chaos on the global system if the US went ahead with our docking fees for Chinese ships", Bessent said in an interview with media outlet CNBC on Wednesday.
His behaviour was "slightly unhinged", Bessent added.
China's Xinhua news agency published on Monday a list of ambassadorial appointments and changes, including the removal of Li from his posting as the country's permanent representative to the WTO.
When asked if this move was related to Bessent's comments, Beijing's foreign ministry told AFP that "this is a routine personnel change".
Li remains China's international trade representative and vice minister of commerce.
He led a Chinese delegation to Washington for trade talks in August where he urged "equal dialogue and consultation" between the two nations, according to a statement from China's commerce ministry.
China and the United States agreed over the weekend to conduct another round of trade negotiations in the coming week, as the world's two biggest economies seek to avoid an escalation of its tariff row.
Beijing announced this month sweeping controls on the critical rare earths industry, prompting US President Donald Trump to threaten 100 percent tariffs on imports from China in retaliation.
Tit-for-tat port fees also took effect last week after Beijing announced "special port fees" on US ships arriving at Chinese ports, following a similar move by the United States announced in April.
China and US agree to fresh trade talks
Beijing (AFP) Oct 18, 2025 -
China and the United States agreed Saturday to conduct another round of trade negotiations in the coming week, as the world's two biggest economies seek to avoid another damaging tit-for-tat tariff battle.
Beijing last week announced sweeping controls on the critical rare earths industry, prompting US President Donald Trump to threaten 100 percent tariffs on imports from China in retaliation.
Trump had also threatened to cancel his expected meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
In the latest indication of efforts to resolve their dispute, Chinese state media reported that Vice Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had "candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges" during a Saturday morning call, and that both sides agreed to hold a new round of trade talks "as soon as possible".
On social media, Bessent described the call as "frank and detailed", and said they would meet "in-person next week to continue our discussions".
Bessent had previously accused China of seeking to harm the rest of the world by tightening restrictions rare earths, which are critical to everything from smartphones to guided missiles.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also participated in the call, according to the report by Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
Hours before the call, Fox News released excerpts of an interview with Trump in which he said he would meet Xi at the APEC summit after all.
Trump told the outlet that the 100 percent tariff on goods from China was not sustainable.
"It's not sustainable, but that's what the number is... They forced me to do that," he said.
- Coordinated response -
The high-level video call came as Washington worked to rally Group of Seven finance ministers in response to the latest Chinese export controls.
For now, the G7 ministers have agreed to coordinate a short-term response and diversify suppliers, the EU's economy commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters in Washington.
Speaking after the grouping met this week, Dombrovskis noted the vast majority of rare earth supplies come from China, meaning that diversification could take years.
"We agreed, both bilaterally with the US and at the G7 level, to coordinate our approach," he said on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank's fall meetings.
Countries would also exchange information on their contacts with Chinese counterparts as they work out short-term solutions, he added.
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil told journalists he hopes that Trump and Xi's meeting can help to resolve much of the US-China trade conflict.
"We have made it clear within the G7 that we do not agree with China's approach," he added, referring to the group of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.
International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva also expressed hope Friday for an agreement between the countries to cool tensions.
The US-China trade war reignited this year as Trump promised sweeping tariffs on imports soon after returning to office.
At one point, US-China tariffs escalated to triple-digit levels, effectively halting some trade as businesses waited for a resolution.
The two countries have since lowered their respective levies but their truce has remained shaky.
burs-pfc/hol/mtp
Related Links
Global Trade News
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
