Trump Says China Violating Trade Agreement
Both on social media and during a press conference, President Donald Trump said China has not fulfilled its promises offered as part of the de-escalation from 145% U.S. tariffs and 125% Chinese tariffs.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Trump said before the dial-back, "We went, in effect, COLD TURKEY with China, and it was devastating for them." He added, "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!!! 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!"
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer explained on CNBC that, in addition to retaliatory tariffs, China had put some U.S. companies on blacklists and had "restricted flow of rare earth magnets to us and other countries," and that China said it would reverse the export restrictions on critical minerals but hasn't.
"The Chinese are slow-rolling their compliance, which is completely unacceptable, and has to be addressed," he said. He also said talks with China have stalled.
But when Trump was asked in an Oval Office press conference if tariffs would be used to push China to fulfill its promises, he didn't say yes. "I'm sure I'll speak to President Xi, and hopefully, we'll work that out," he said.
A Chinese embassy spokesperson didn't directly address the accusation that it wasn't living up to its agreement, but said it's the U.S. that is abusing export controls.
"China once again urges the U.S. to immediately correct its erroneous actions, cease discriminatory restrictions against China and jointly uphold the consensus reached at the high-level talks in Geneva," an embassy spokesperson told reporters from Fortune, the BBC and Reuters. The embassy didn't respond to a request for comment from International Trade Today.
China also was asked how the rare earths restrictions are different from U.S. actions in recent days to cut off aircraft engine exports and chip design software.
A foreign ministry spokesperson said China’s export controls "are consistent with universal practices. Such measures are non-discriminatory and not targeted at any particular country. We stand ready to strengthen dialogue and cooperation on export control with relevant countries and regions and are committed to keeping global industrial and supply chains stable."
The spokesperson added: "What the U.S. does overstretches the concept of national security, politicizes and weaponizes trade and tech issues and are malicious attempts to block and suppress China."
The Chinese embassy in Washington also complained this week about a U.S. announcement that it would be "aggressively" revoking visas for Chinese students at American colleges, if they were studying critical fields, or had connections to the Chinese Communist Party.
"The Chinese Embassy in the United States has lodged a solemn demarche with the U.S. side without delay, urging the U.S. government to immediately correct its mistakes and ensure the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese students."