Donald Trump has accused China of “totally violating” its trade agreement with the United States, reigniting tensions between the world’s two largest economies just weeks after a tentative easing of tariffs.
In a fiery post on Truth Social, the former president and presumptive Republican nominee wrote:
“China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US.”
The remarks come despite recent progress in US-China trade negotiations. Earlier this month, both sides agreed to reduce tariffs, scaling back duties that had pushed levies on Chinese imports to the US as high as 145%. As part of the agreement, the US reduced its average import tariff on Chinese goods to 30%.
Trump defended his decision to strike the deal, claiming it had helped stabilize global markets.
“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,” he said. “Because of this deal, everything quickly stabilised and China got back to business as usual.”
However, he warned that China had since reneged on its commitments:
“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!”
The post triggered fresh concerns over the future of US-China trade relations.
Jamieson Greer, the US’s chief trade negotiator, backed Trump’s claims in an interview with CNBC, criticising China for continuing to “slow down and choke off” access to critical minerals.
He added that America’s trade deficit with China remained “enormous,” and that there were no significant signs of policy change from Beijing.
Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acknowledged on Thursday that talks had “become a bit stalled” and suggested Trump could step in directly to break the deadlock.
