Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he envisions reaching trade agreements with US allies that would then lay the ground for a collective approach toward Beijing to address what he described as China’s unbalanced trade structure.

“We can probably reach a deal with our allies” at the end of the day, Bessent said when asked questions after a speech at the American Bankers Association in Washington Wednesday. “They’ve been good military allies, not perfect economic allies. And then we can approach China as a group.”