“There’s a big deal to be done at some point” Bessent said when asked by Bloomberg TV about the possibility that the world’s largest economies would decouple.

“There doesn’t have to be decoupling,” he said, “but there could be.”

Bessent stressed that a deal with China would be more difficult than with other nations because “China is both our biggest economic competitor and our biggest military rival.”

The world’s two largest economies have been locked in a fast-moving game of brinkmanship since US President Donald Trump launched a global tariff assault that particularly targeted Chinese imports.

Tit-for-tat exchanges have seen US levies imposed on China rise to 145%, with Beijing setting a retaliatory 125% band on US imports.

The US side had appeared to dial down the pressure recently, listing tariff exemptions for smartphones, laptops, semiconductors and other electronic products for which China is a major source.

But Trump and some of his top aides said Sunday that the exemptions had been misconstrued and would only be temporary as his team pursued fresh tariffs against many items on the list.

“NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook’… especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!” he posted on his Truth Social platform.

Bessent warned that Trump’s tariffs were “not a joke.”

“These are big numbers. I think no one who thinks they’re sustainable wants them to remain here.”