Trump slams China for ‘violating’ tariff truce

US President, Donald Trump has slammed China for violating a tariff truce agreed just two weeks ago, raising concerns that trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies may escalate once again.

Earlier this month, Washington and Beijing agreed to temporarily reduce reciprocal tariffs after talks in Geneva.

However, Trump said on Friday in a Truth Social post that tariffs had left China in “grave economic danger” even before the countries had reached a “fast deal.” He added that China had “totally violated its agreement with us,” though he did not provide further details.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer later stated that China had not been removing non-tariff barriers as agreed. Beijing has yet to respond to the claims.

Greer told CNBC that while China had lifted tariffs similarly to the US, it had been slow to roll back other countermeasures such as blacklisting US companies and restricting rare earth material flows.

He said, “The United States did exactly what it was supposed to do and the Chinese are slow-rolling their compliance which is completely unacceptable and has to be addressed.”

China’s foreign ministry declined to comment on US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent’s remarks that trade talks had “become a bit stalled.” Bessent told Fox News on Thursday, “I think that given the magnitude of the talks, given the complexity, that this is going to require [leaders of both the countries] to weigh in with each other.”

Meanwhile, Trump’s global tariff regime suffered a setback after a court ruled he had exceeded his authority. The White House appealed the decision, temporarily reinstating the tariffs.
This week, the administration also moved to “aggressively” revoke the visas of Chinese students studying in the US, estimated at around 280,000.

In mid-May, Washington and Beijing agreed to reduce tariffs on each other’s imports, cancelling some tariffs and suspending others for 90 days.

Bessent said talks on a further deal had lost momentum but were continuing. He said, “I believe that we will be having more talks with [China] in the next few weeks and I believe we may at some point have a call between the president and [Chinese President Xi Jinping].”

He added that the two leaders had “a very good relationship” and expressed confidence “that the Chinese will come to the table when President Trump makes his preferences known.”

Under the deal, the US lowered tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, while China cut its retaliatory tariffs from 125% to 10%.

President Trump has argued that tariffs encourage US consumers to buy American-made goods, which supports bringing back manufacturing jobs and increasing tax revenue.

Separately, a Japanese delegation continues trade talks with US officials in Washington. Bessent said “a couple” of US trade deals were “very close,” while “a couple of them are more complicated.”

Trump called the court ruling against his tariff powers “horrific” and expressed hope the Supreme Court would overturn it “QUICKLY and DECISIVELY.”

(BBC)

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