China has lashed out at Donald Trump’s suggestion that Beijing violated an agreement between the two economic powerhouses that largely rolled back the U.S. president’s damaging tariff plans.
China’s Commerce Ministry said in a statement that it firmly rejects these “unjustified accusations” and vowed to take “forceful measures” to protect its interests, according to Chinese state media.
“The United States has unilaterally and repeatedly provoked new economic and trade frictions, exacerbating uncertainty and instability in bilateral economic and trade relations,” the statement said. “Instead of reflecting on its own actions, the United States has groundlessly accused China of violating the consensus, a claim that grossly distorts the facts.”
China was the main target of Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” tariff plan, which sparked global market turmoil
The two countries quickly entered an all-out trade war, with Trump raising baseline tariffs on Chinese imports to 145 percent, while Beijing retaliated with its own 125 percent import tax on U.S. goods.
The trade war cooled after talks in Geneva in May where the U.S. agreed to reduce its planned tariffs on China to 30 percent and Beijing agreed to cut its U.S. tariffs to 10 percent.
In a May 30 rant on Truth Social, Trump accused China of having “TOTALLY VIOLATED” the agreement with the U.S.
Trump claimed the deal was made after he observed “many factories closed” and “civil unrest” in China. “I saw what was happening and didn’t like it, for them, not for us. I made a FAST DEAL with China in order to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation,” Trump said, adding: “So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!”
The Trump administration later accused China of breaching the agreement by delaying the shipment of materials vital to the U.S. auto, electronics, and defense industries.
“What China is doing is they are holding back products that are essential for the industrial supply chains of India, of Europe, and that is not what a reliable partner does,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
China’s Commerce Ministry is now accusing the Trump administration of violating the Geneva agreement as well, citing multiple “discriminatory, restrictive” measures.
These include the introduction of AI chip export control guidelines, a ban on the sale of chip design software to China, and the revocation of visas for Chinese students studying in the U.S.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told ABC News’ This Week on Sunday that he believes Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have a phone call sometime in the coming days to discuss the ongoing trade dispute.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
