In response to President Trump’s claims, China has asserted that the United States is the one implementing a series of “discriminatory restrictive measures.”
On Monday, China stated that the United States has “severely undermined” the trade truce established last month, countering accusations from President Trump that it was violating the terms of their agreement.
China’s Ministry of Commerce labeled Trump’s social media attacks as “baseless,” referring to his allegations that Beijing was not adhering to the trade deal, which included a 90-day rollback of tariffs and trade barriers to facilitate further negotiations and avert a full-scale trade war.
The ministry emphasized that China has continued to honor its commitments and criticized the United States for its “erroneous practices,” which include restrictions on the sale of chip design software to China and prohibitions on American companies using or financing artificial intelligence chips from Huawei.
Additionally, China condemned the Trump administration's plans to “aggressively revoke” visas for Chinese students and to increase scrutiny on future applications from China, including Hong Kong.
In its statement, the ministry remarked, “The U.S. side has unilaterally escalated new economic and trade frictions, exacerbating the uncertainty and instability of bilateral economic and trade relations,” and accused the U.S. of shifting blame onto China rather than reflecting on its own actions.
China indicated it would take measures to “safeguard its legitimate rights and interests” should the United States continue to harm Chinese interests.
The escalating confrontation over the fragile trade truce between the two largest economies has raised concerns about the prospects for a permanent agreement within the 90-day deadline.
The United States has expressed increasing worry about access to rare earth magnets, essential for the production of cars, semiconductors, aircraft, and other critical items, as China holds a near monopoly on rare earth metal production.
The ability of American companies to maintain factory operations could be at risk without a sufficient supply of these magnets.
Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative involved in negotiating the deal alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, noted during a CNBC appearance that China is “slow-rolling their compliance” and that the flow of some critical minerals has not returned to expected levels.
The agreement, announced on May 12, provided a temporary relief from escalating trade tensions, with the United States having increased tariffs on Chinese imports to 145 percent and China retaliating with a 125 percent increase on American products.
Under the truce, the United States agreed to reduce its tariffs to 30 percent, while China lowered its import tax to 10 percent for the next 90 days.
Amy Chang Chien contributed reporting from Taipei.