Trump claims China ‘completely violated’ trade pact with the US

Trump claims China 'completely violated' trade pact with the US

On Friday morning, President Donald Trump accused China of violating a recent trade agreement with the United States.

The harsh criticism appeared to call into question the agreement’s long-term viability, raising the prospect of a rekindled trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

“China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH THE US,” Trump wrote in a social media post Friday morning. “So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!”

Trump did not specify the action taken by China that violated the agreement.

The comments came just hours after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressed doubts about US-China trade talks in an interview with Fox News on Thursday night.

When asked about the status of the trade talks, Bessent replied, “I would say that they are a bit stalled.” “I believe that 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].”

U.S. stocks fell slightly in early trading on Friday morning following Trump and Bessent’s comments.

A trade agreement reached earlier this month between the United States and China reduced tit-for-tat tariffs, causing the stock market to rise and lowering Wall Street’s recession forecasts.

The United States agreed to reduce tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, while China pledged to reduce tariffs on US products from 125% to 10%. The reduced tariffs will remain in effect for 90 days while the two sides negotiate a larger trade agreement.

The remaining 30% tariffs on Chinese goods, however, suffered a significant setback this week when a panel of federal judges overturned the legal justification for the levies.

The U.S. Court of International Trade’s ruling late Wednesday invalidated the China tariffs, as well as a slew of other levies on dozens of countries announced in a Rose Garden ceremony Trump dubbed “Liberation Day.”

On Thursday, a federal appeals court moved to temporarily reinstate the tariffs, leaving the policy’s future uncertain.

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