US President Donald Trump Friday morning accused China of having “totally violated” a 90-day trade truce reached just weeks ago in Geneva, casting doubt on whether the agreement still holds and throwing the future of bilateral trade talks into question.
The deal, announced on May 12, had lowered US tariffs on Chinese imports from 145 per cent to 30 per cent, and Chinese tariffs on US goods from 125 per cent to 10 per cent. The Trump administration recently hailed the “asymmetric” agreement as a significant victory for the US.
Trump on Friday said that he made a “fast deal” to “save China” from “grave economic danger” caused by his tariffs.
“Because of this deal, everything quickly stabilised and China got back to business as usual. Everybody was happy! That is the good news,” Trump said in a social media post.
He added: “The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, has totally violated its agreement with us. So much for being Mr. nice guy!”
The allegation marks another twist in efforts to resolve bilateral trade differences that date back to 2018, when Trump launched a tariff war during his first administration, and reflects the complexities that have grown as the two global powers compete for technological dominance.
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