US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday signalled a tentative deal with China to de-escalate their damaging, tariff-fueled trade war -- just days before a summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

In an interview with ABC's "This Week," Bessent said the US threat of a 100 percent tariff hike on Chinese goods had effectively been taken off the table in exchange for Beijing deferring curbs on its global rare earth exports.

"The tariffs will be averted," Bessent said after wrapping up talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

On the export controls, China will "delay that for a year while they reexamine it," Bessent said.

The secretary's remarks came as Trump kicked off an Asia tour in Kuala Lumpur that will culminate in a sitdown

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