President Donald Trump accused China of violating the agreement to rewind critical mineral tariffs and trade restrictions from one another, suggesting that China would be in a “significant economic risk” until it agreed to cut transactions earlier this month.
Posting on his true social platform on Friday evening, Trump said the two countries had “fast deals” with China, moving away from 90-day triple digit tariffs to “save” Beijing from “very bad circumstances.”
The US leader said that tariffs of up to 145% on Chinese imports made it “virtually impossible” for China to trade with the US market, resulting in factories closed within the country and “civic unrest.”
“It’s probably not surprising, but for some, it’s completely violated the agreement with us. There’s a lot to be Nice Guy!” Trump added.
Trump did not specify in his post how China violated what measures he took after a trade talk in Geneva, Switzerland in mid-May or on suspicion of failing to comply with the terms.
When asked by a reporter about his deal with China at the oval office later Friday, Trump said, “I am sure I will talk to (Chinese) President Xi Jinping (Jing Ping).
Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, told reporters that China’s failure to fulfill its obligations would “enable all sorts of US actions to ensure future compliance.”
Miller added that Trump wanted China to open to American businesses in a way similar to how the US has been open to Chinese businesses “for a very long time.”
The Chinese embassy in Washington said Beijing has maintained communications with its US counterparts since the Geneva discussions, but said there are concerns about the recent imposition of US export controls.
“China has repeatedly raised concerns with the US regarding the abuse of export control measures in the semiconductor sector and other related practices,” embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said in a statement.
“China once again urges the US to immediately correct its false actions, halt discriminatory restrictions on China and jointly support the consensus reached at high-level consultations in Geneva,” added Li.
A broken promise
Earlier this week, media reports suggested that the Trump administration had ordered a US company that would provide software used to design semiconductors to stop selling services to Chinese groups.
On Wednesday, a U.S. Commerce Department spokesman considered exports of strategic significance to China, confirming that “in some cases the existing export licenses were suspended or additional licensing requirements were imposed while the review was pending.”
Shortly after China lamented its lack of compliance with the Geneva Agreement on Friday, President Trump also announced plans to increase tariffs on foreign steel imports from 25% to 50% on June 4th.
The agreement to repay the 90-day tariff two weeks ago prompted a massive gathering of global stocks as it effectively lowered US tariff rates for Chinese goods from around 25% in early April.
As part of the transaction, China has agreed to raise trade measures that would limit the export of critical metals needed for production by the US semiconductors, electronics and defense industries.
But Trump administration officials have publicly stated that China has been slow to adhere to Geneva’s commitments and has not followed so far.
Reuters also reported on Friday that global automotive executives issued a warning against an impending shortage of rare earth magnets from China, allowing car factories to be closed within weeks.
“Without reliable access to these elements and magnets, automotive suppliers cannot produce critical automotive parts such as automatic transmissions, throttle bodies, alternators, various motors, sensors, seat belts, speakers, lights, motors, power steering, cameras, and more.”