The U.S. is weighing curbs on software-related exports to China, in response to Beijing’s sweeping rare-earth export controls, as both sides prepare for a critical round of negotiations.
Answering a question from CNBC’s Eamon Javers on whether Washington was considering limiting exports of products using American software to China, as reported by Reuters, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed, saying that “everything is on the table.”
“If these export controls, whether it’s software, engines or other things happen, it will likely be in coordination with our G-7 allies,” Bessent added.
President Donald Trump earlier this month said that the U.S. would impose export controls on “any and all critical software” to China beginning next month by barring global shipments of goods containing U.S. software to the country. Trump had also announced an extra 100% tariff on Chinese exports in retaliation to curbs Beijing announced on the exports of its rare earth minerals.
Bessent’s statement comes ahead of his highly anticipated talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Malaysia later this week, which would set the stage for a potential meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea at the month’s end.
