A short-lived truce between Beijing and Washington has come to a crashing halt.
After announcing a 90-day stay on punitive duties for China-made goods last month, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Friday to rail against the country’s government, saying China “totally violated” its agreement with the U.S. The Commander in Chief did not provide further details about the breach of terms.
The Chinese Commerce Ministry hit back on Monday, saying that the U.S. is “provoking new economic and trade frictions” that “seriously undermine” the agreement that was reached in mid-May.
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A spokesperson asserted that China has been “strictly implementing” the terms that were agreed upon when officials from both countries met in Switzerland. The framework centered on lowering trade barriers and tariffs by 115 percent for three months while a more permanent deal is hashed out.
“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 firmly rejects these unjustified accusations,” the spokesperson added.
According to Chinese officials, the U.S. has invalidated the terms of the Geneva truce by halting the sale of software for designing computer chips to China’s tech firms, taking aim at Huawei, a Chinese technology and electronics company, and revoking visas for Chinese students in the U.S.
During a Friday appearance on CNBC, U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer said that China was “slowrolling” compliance with the terms of the agreement, noting that he believes U.S. companies have been placed on Chinese blacklists and that exports of rare earth minerals to the U.S. have been restricted.
One day earlier, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noted that negotiations between the world’s two largest economies has been “a bit stalled.”
Volatility is poised to continue, with members of administration saying Sunday that the president’s global tariff regime won’t be derailed by a recent ruling from the Court of International Trade (CIT).
Last week, the federal judicial body handed down a decision that Trump’s universal baseline tariffs and reciprocal duties on more than 90 countries across the globe were invalid. The president overstepped his executive authority by attempting to use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to levy the sweeping import taxes, a panel of three judges said.
Less than a day later, a Washington, D.C. federal appeals court implemented a stay on the CIT’s decision as it reviews the details of the case and the ruling.
“Rest assured, tariffs are not going away,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said during an interview on Fox News Sunday. The president has “so many other authorities that even in the weird and unusual circumstance where this was taken away, we just bring on another or another or another,” he added, referencing other trade laws and provisions that the administration could wield to continue to carry out its agenda.
Throughout last week’s judicial ping pong match, the president stayed mostly mum. But on Sunday, he commented on the issue, Truthing, “If the Courts somehow rule against us on Tariffs, which is not expected, that would allow other Countries to hold our Nation hostage with their anti-American Tariffs that they would use against us. This would mean the Economic ruination of the United States of America!”
