Trump Accuses China of ‘Violating’ Its Trade Agreement With the U.S., Laments Being ‘Mr. Nice Guy’
President Donald Trump has accused China of “totally violating” its trade agreement with the U.S.
After the U.S. and China continued to raise levies against one another, and amid rising fears of a full-scale trade war, on May 12 both nations agreed to significantly lower their tariffs for a 90-day period. The U.S. vowed to lower import taxes on goods coming from China from an astronomical 145% down to 30%. While China agreed to lower its tariffs from 125% to 10%. It was stated that the actions would be put into effect by May 14, but Trump’s latest social media post has called that into question.
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“Two weeks ago China was in grave economic danger! The very high tariffs I set made it virtually impossible for China to trade into the United States marketplace,” said Trump via Truth Social on Friday morning, claiming that there was “civil unrest” as a result of the high levies.
“I made a fast deal with China in order to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation, and I didn’t want to see that happen. Because of this deal, everything quickly stabilized and China got back to business as usual. Everybody was happy! That is the good news,” Trump continued. “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!”
Following Trump’s claims of a violated agreement, stock futures slipped.
Read More: Trump Needs to Get Real on Trade
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer echoed Trump’s sentiment during an interview with CNBC on Friday morning, saying that Trump and his advisers are “very concerned” and have been since the marathon trade negotiations in Geneva in early May.
“No one can deny that 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,” said Greer.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hinted that negotiations and relations were strained, telling FOX News that talks with China were “a bit stalled.”
“I believe we will be having more talks with them in the next few weeks, and I believe we may—at some point—have a call between the President and Party Chair Xi [Jinping],” Bessent said.
A federal appeals court on Thursday evening agreed to temporarily preserve many of Trump’s tariffs on China and other countries—allowing the Administration some reprieve after a three-judge panel on Wednesday ruled to block the tariffs.
Read More: What’s Next for Trump’s Tariff Agenda After Back-and-Forth Court Rulings
But is not the end of the road for Trump’s tariffs in the courts, as the future of their legality is still in limbo amid ongoing appeals.
Something else that could potentially cast a shadow over the U.S. and China’s trade negotiations is Trump’s recent targeting of international students studying in the U.S., which impacts Chinese nationals.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a press statement that the State Department and Homeland Security will work to “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.” The move stands to further erode trust between the U.S. and China.