Bessent becomes face of trade talks as Trump says he wants to open China to business

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has taken a leading role behind the scenes in US trade negotiations — as President Trump expressed hope Friday that he would “open China” to American goods with his aggressive “reciprocal” tariffs.“Bessent and Trump are in the driver’s seat but [Commerce Secretary Howard] Lutnick and [White House trade adviser Peter] Navarro continue to have access and say,” a source told The Post of the dynamic inside the administration’s economic team as it works on dozens of one-for-one trade deals following Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement April 2 — and its subsequent suspension seven days later.“Trump trusts his resume, is basically what it comes down to,” this person added of Bessent, 62.

Bessent, a successful hedge fund executive worth an estimated $520 million, has been the public face of the talks as well — and has voiced confidence about progress in talks with India, South Korea and Japan.He met last week with a Japanese delegation, with followup talks expected before the end of the month, and said he was surprised Thursday when meeting with Seoul officials by how far along those talks were, telling reporters at the White House the Asian delegation “came with their ‘A’ game.”Bessent predicted this week that India would be the first to strike a new bilateral trade pact — after Vice President JD Vance and Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a “roadmap” for talks in Delhi earlier this week.Meanwhile, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Pope Francis’ funeral in Rome that he was hopeful that his “Liberation Day” levies will boost US businesses — including in China, which publicly claims its not negotiating a trade deal, despite Trump’s claims to the contrary.“Free up China, you know, let us go in and work China,” Trump said of his goal.“In other words, it’s called to open China.That would be great.

That would be a big win, but I’m not eve...