China accuses U.S. of violating trade truce, vows "forceful measures"

Axios

2 days ago

China has accused the U.S. violating the trade deal that the world's two largest economies signed last month and vowed to take "resolute and forceful measures," per a briefing on Monday morning local time.
Why it matters: It's the latest sign of deteriorating relations between the two nations since their Switzerland meeting led to a May 12 deal to lower tariffs on each other fo 90 days while they negotiated on trade.
President Trump accused Beijing on Friday of violating the agreement, one day after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described negotiations as " a bit stalled."
Driving the news: A Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson said Beijing "firmly rejects these unjustified accusations," per translations of the comments that were carried by state media.
The spokesperson alleged the U.S. had "seriously undermined" and "violated" the trade agreement by issuing "export control guidelines for AI chips, stopping the sale of chip design software (EDA) to China, and announcing the r evocation" of visas for Chinese students.
"If the U.S. insists on its own way and continues to damage China's interests, China will continue to take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests," unnamed official added, without elaborating further.
The other side: While Trump didn't go into details on his claims that Beijing had "totally violated" the trade deal, administration officials have pointed to delays in sending critical minerals to the U.S., which are needed for American auto, electronics and defense industries, that formed part of the agreement.
"What China is doing is they are holding back products that are essential for the industrial supply chains of India, of Europe, and that is not what a reliable partner does," Bessent said during a Sunday interview on CBS News ' "Face the Nation."
What we're watching: U.S. National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett said Sunday he expects Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jingping will hold a phone call this week as part of negotiations.
Bessent said on CBS he's "confident" that the two sides' issues "will be ironed out" once Trump and Xi have spoken.
"But the fact that they are withholding some of the products that they agreed to release during our agreement — maybe it's a glitch in the Chinese system, maybe it's intentional," he told CBS' Margaret Brennan. "We'll see after the president speaks with [Xi]."
Beijing had not commented on any plans for a call between the two leaders as of late Sunday.