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US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has accused China of violating a tariff de-escalation deal, while saying he expects to eventually speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
His comments came hours after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that trade talks with Beijing were “a bit stalled” in an interview with broadcaster Fox News.
Earlier this month, the world’s two biggest economies agreed to temporarily lower staggeringly high tariffs they had imposed on each other, in a pause to last 90 days.
But today, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US,” without providing further details.
He told reporters this afternoon: “I’m sure that I’ll speak to President Xi, and hopefully we’ll work that out.”
Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told reporters that with China failing to fulfill its obligations, “that opens up all manner of action for the United States to ensure future compliance.”
US stock markets closed mixed, after fluctuating in the day on jitters that Trump could return to a more confrontational stance on China.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher, while the S&P 500 index was flat, and the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3%.
“If it weren’t for the trade war, the market would be feeling pretty good,” said Tom Cahill of Ventura Wealth Management.
“Inflation is definitely moving in the right direction,” he added, referencing the Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge, which cooled more than expected last month, according to fresh data published today.
In Europe, London and Germany’s major indices ended higher, while France’s CAC40 closed lower, following declines in Asian markets earlier in the day.
“If President Trump does slap tariffs back on Chinese imports to the US… we may see demand for US assets, and the dollar, severely impaired by a chaotic and undiplomatic approach to trade policy,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
Earlier, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CNBC: “The Chinese are slow-rolling their compliance, which is completely unacceptable.”
While Greer did not go into specifics, he noted reports that Beijing continues to “slow down and choke off things like critical minerals and rare earth magnets,” adding that the US trade deficit with China is still “enormous.”
Greer said that Washington was not seeing major shifts in Beijing’s behavior.
Washington is also in “intensive talks” with other trading partners, Greer told CNBC, saying he has meetings next week with counterparts from Malaysia, Vietnam and the European Union.
The meetings come as he heads to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) talks in Europe.
“The negotiations are on track, and we do hope to have some deals in the next couple of weeks,” Greer said.
Washington and Tokyo are making progress towards a deal, Kyodo News reported, citing Japan’s tariffs envoy Ryosei Akazawa.
Akazawa, who met with Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington, expects another round of talks before mid-June.
But Trump’s tariff plans are facing legal challenges.
On Wednesday, the New York-based Court of International Trade ruled that the tariffs were unconstitutional, and that Trump did not have the authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose them.
The White House bit back at the decision, calling it “blatantly wrong” while accusing the court of attempting to “usurp” Trump’s authority.
However, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Thursday temporarily reinstated Trump’s sweeping measures, requesting instead that both sides issue written arguments on the matter before a final ruling is made by next month.
Greer said it was important to get through the legal process so partners have a “better understanding of the landing zone.”
Since Trump returned to the presidency, he has slapped sweeping tariffs on most US trading partners, with especially high rates on Chinese imports.
New tit-for-tat levies on both sides reached three digits before the de-escalation this month, where Washington agreed to temporarily reduce additional tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% to 30%.
China, meanwhile, lowered its added duties from 125% to 10%.
The US level is higher as it includes a 20% that Trump imposed on Chinese goods over the country’s alleged role in the illicit drug trade – an accusation that Beijing has pushed back against.
The high US-China tariffs, while still in place, forced many businesses to pause shipments as they waited for both governments to strike a deal.
With reporting from © AFP 2025
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