Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters Tuesday that Beijing’s panic hoarding of crude and refined products, while refusing to join the rest of the world in releasing supplies to offset the Gulf energy shock, has now demonstrated for the third time in five years that China is an "unreliable global partner."
"China has been an unreliable global partner three times in the past five years; once during COVID, when they hoarded healthcare products, second on rare earth," Bessent said, referring to Beijing's move last year to weaponize rare earth exports against the US in the tit-for-tat trade war that disrupted US supply chains, including temporary factory shutdowns such as production lines briefly shuttered by Ford Motor Company.
Bessent said China continued to purchase tanker loads of crude instead of helping ease the global supply crunch caused by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, despite already holding a massive strategic reserve. He also noted that China restricted exports of crude products early in the conflict.
Reuters noted that China's strategic petroleum reserve "was roughly the same size as that of the entire reserve held by the 32-member International Energy Agency, but it was continuing to purchase oil."
Bessent added, "They continued buying, and they've been hoarding, and they have cut off exports of many products."
On US-China relations, he told reporters he's been in contact with Chinese officials about the hoarding issue.
He declined to comment on whether the dispute and elevated tensions will derail an upcoming Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, which has been pushed to mid-May.
"I think the message for the visit is stability. We've had great stability in the relationship since last summer; that emanates from the top down," he said. "I think that communication is the key."
Bessent added that the US military blockade would ensure that no Chinese tankers or other ships would pass the strait: "So they're not going to be able to get their oil. They can get oil. Not Iranian oil."
Last week, International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol warned that governments must avoid panic hoarding and refrain from imposing fuel export bans as the Gulf energy shock continues to ripple outward to Asia, Africa, Europe, and eventually reaches the US West Coast.
"I urge all countries not to impose bans or restrictions on exports," Fatih Birol emphasized in a Financial Times interview. "It is the worst time when you look at the global oil markets. Their trade partners, their allies and their neighbors will suffer as a result."
The FT noted that Birol was "careful not to name China directly," but made very clear his warning was likely aimed at Beijing.
So Bessent is clearly keeping a running tally of Beijing’s behavior as an "unreliable global partner," and by his count, the number now stands at three.
What comes next is unclear, but the next signal will likely come from the upcoming Trump-Xi meeting.
* * *
Tyler Durden Wed, 04/15/2026 - 21:20Authored by Rex Widerstrom via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
The volume of businesses struggling to pay their debts in Australia is on track to exceed the heights set during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to two reports on the nation’s economic health.
Australian dollar coins and banknotes in Melbourne, Australia on April 4, 2024. AAP Image/Joel CarrettUp to 13 percent of working-age Australians and 47 percent of secondary school students want to work for themselves or start a business, but that’s not translating into a pipeline of new enterprises, according to the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia (CEDA).
“Our analysis shows the proportion of business owners in the workforce has declined steadily over the past two decades and fell to a record low last year. The decline has been sharpest for owner-managers with employees and less steep for solo owner-operators. It is evident across all age groups, including younger workers,” said CEDA Chief Executive Melinda Cilento.
While the total rate of business formation has grown moderately over the past decade, it has been almost entirely driven by growth in sole traders.
In contrast, entry rates for businesses that employ staff declined steadily through the 2000s and has since been relatively flat.
This trend has coincided with the rise in second jobs, “side hustles,” and digital-platform work.
“Starting a side hustle or taking on gig work can be a flexible way to get started and gain some hands-on experience,” Cilento said. ”But the evidence suggests most of these activities are intended only to top-up household income, and not to build the next generation of employing firms.
“If we want a more productive, competitive, and resilient economy, we need to make it easier for people to turn a good idea into a growing enterprise.”
To help achieve that, CEDA wants the federal government to use next month’s federal Budget to introduce further cuts to “red tape” and to review existing business support programmes.
This entails eliminating redundant or out-of-date regulatory obstacles, streamlining the application process for grants and other support programmes, and expanding access to financing and insurance.
The government should also promote business advice and training more effectively, and remove anti-competitive obstacles that hinder the entry and expansion of new businesses, CEDA says.
Auditors Sound WarningMeanwhile, 2025 was a record year for “going concern” notices for businesses unable to pay their debts with in the next 12 months, according to Chartered Accountants.
The group was concerned about the viability of 28 percent of Australian-listed companies outside the mining sector, up from 20 percent in 2021.
That compares to 15 percent in New Zealand and approximately 8 percent in comparable high‑income countries internationally.
Among Australian miners, the figure increased to nearly half, up from 32 percent in 2021.
“This level of uncertainty exceeds that seen at the height of the COVID disruptions and reflects the cumulative impact of global trade uncertainty, market volatility, higher interest rates, and persistent inflationary pressures on business viability,” said Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ).
Its report, “Insights into 2025 auditor reports: A focus on going concern,” was conducted in partnership with the Universities of Melbourne and Queensland, and took place before the current Middle East conflict and its resulting energy price shock.
“Auditors are now flagging greater uncertainty than during the pandemic itself, which shows how sustained economic pressures around liquidity, refinancing, and future profitability can be just as challenging for businesses as an acute shock,” said Amir Ghandar.
While mining is under particular pressure, the conditions are also affecting other capital-intensive industries such as information technology and health care.
Tyler Durden Wed, 04/15/2026 - 20:55The pro-Israel advocacy group J Street is now calling for an end to "direct" US military support to Israel, per a new policy document published this week. The group had previously backed Washington's continued provision of defensive weapons systems, such as the replenishment of Israel's Iron Dome, at no cost to Israelis.
Now, it says the US "should continue to sell" short-range air and ballistic missile defense capabilities to Israel, but Israel should use its own money to pay for them.
Source: Times of Israel"Israel faces real security challenges that require a significant defense investment. With a per capita GDP comparable to leading US allies such as the United Kingdom, France and Japan, as well as an annual defense budget of over $45 billion, it has the financial means to address these challenges," J Street said.
"It does not require almost $4 billion per year in US financial subsidies to purchase weapons," it added. "Continuing this assistance is both unnecessary and politically counterproductive, creating avoidable tensions in US domestic politics and in the bilateral relationship."
The way the current military aid package operates is that the US provides Israel with American taxpayer funds, and those funds are put into US weapons companies to acquire equipment.
On its website, J Street says that it "organizes pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy Americans to promote US policies that embody our deeply held Jewish and democratic values and that help secure the State of Israel as a democratic homeland for the Jewish people".
Political tide turnsJ Street's shift follows a distinct change in attitudes towards Israel among the American public after what has been widely labeled genocide in Gaza, where over 72,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel's war on the enclave broke out in October 2023.
But perhaps more importantly for the group, whose support base is made up of Democrats, the party's future is changing course. Progressive New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is widely believed to be seeking higher office, announced earlier this month that she would no longer vote for any US military support to Israel, despite having previously backed the provision of defensive weapons, much to the disappointment of many of her supporters.
It is notable, however, that her statement followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's surprise declaration earlier this year that Israel will not seek to renew its military aid package with the US in 2028. "I want to taper off the military aid within the next 10 years," all the way down to zero, Netanyahu told The Economist in January.
J Street's new position demands that any future US arms sales that Israel pays for out-of-pocket "be fully consistent with American law", which echoed Ocasio-Cortez's statement.
US law prohibits security assistance to any country whose government engages in a consistent pattern of gross human rights violations or blocks or restricts the transport or delivery of US-backed humanitarian aid.
This moment demands a reset. J Street is calling for the U.S. to end unconditional financial military subsidies to Israel and to move towards a relationship where we treat Israel like any other ally.
J Street supports:
– Phasing out taxpayer-funded military aid by 2028, when the…
"US arms sales to Israel should be further conditioned to incentivize alignment with American interests and laws - as has been the case with other allies and partners – when their behavior is inconsistent with US interests," J Street said. At the same time, the group acknowledges that Washington and Israel generally share the same interests anyway. "The US also benefits meaningfully from the relationship. Intelligence sharing has been critical in campaigns such as the fight against ISIS, while joint operations such as Israel’s 2006 strike on Syria’s secret nuclear facility have advanced shared security goals."
It added that because "approximately 500,000 American citizens live in Israel", selling it weapons should continue to be a US national security priority.
Tyler Durden Wed, 04/15/2026 - 20:05