
James O'Brien 10am - 1pm
30 May 2025, 19:57
China has hit back at Donald Trump after the US President accused Beijing of violating a two-week-old truce on tariffs.
The US was ordered to "cease discriminatory restrictions against China" as Beijing lashed out at the US over its alleged wrongdoing regarding tariffs.
It also urged the White House to "immediately correct its erroneous actions" and to "jointly uphold the consensus reached at the high-level talks in Geneva".
Washington and Beijing agreed to temporarily reduce tit-for-tat tariffs following crunch talks in Geneva earlier this month, which seemingly marked a significant de-escalation in tensions between the two economic giants
But Trump claimed earlier on Friday that China had "totally violated its agreement with us".
In a post on his Truth Social network, Trump said his tariffs China have been "devastating" for the Asian powerhouse.
He added that he had "made a FAST DEAL" to save them from "what I thought was going to be a very bad situation".
"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!" he added.
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He did not give further explanation, but US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer later argued China had failed to remove non-tariff barriers as agreed under the deal.
"The United States did exactly what it was supposed to do and the Chinese are slow-rolling their compliance which is completely unacceptable and has to be addressed," he added.
Donald Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on almost every country on Earth plunged the global economy into chaos.
He also imposed higher rates for some countries including Mexico, Canada and China.
Meanwhile, industry-specific tariffs such as an additional 25% rate on steel, aluminium and cars, have also been introduced.
On Thursday night, a temporary pause was put on a lower-court ruling made the previous night that blocked most of Trump's tariffs.
It came after three judges ruled he did not have the unilateral authority to issue tariffs for nearly every country.
Responding to the judgement, Trump's deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, hit out at the court on social media.
He wrote: "The judicial coup is out of control.
"It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency."