Latest news with #CommerceMinistry
RTHK
4 hours ago
- Business
- RTHK
Xi, Trump to have phone call this week: White House
Xi, Trump to have phone call this week: White House The Foreign Ministry says Beijing has "no information to provide" on White House claims that the leaders of China and the US would talk this week. File photo: RTHK President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump will likely hold a long-awaited call later this week, the White House said on Monday, as trade tensions between the world's two biggest economies ratchet back up. Asked about the matter on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said Beijing had "no information to provide." Trump re-ignited strains with China last week when he accused the world's second-biggest economy of violating a deal that had led both countries to temporarily reduce huge tit-for-tat tariffs. The Commerce Ministry hit back, saying Washington had seriously undermined the consensus reached during the China-US economic and trade talks in Geneva earlier. "The two leaders will likely talk this week," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters outside the West Wing when asked whether Trump and Xi would speak. The presidents of China and the US have yet to have any confirmed contact more than five months since the Republican returned to power, despite frequent claims by the US president that a call is imminent. Trump even said in a Time Magazine interview in April that Xi had called him, but Beijing insisted that there had been no call recently. The US leader introduced in April sweeping worldwide tariffs that targeted China most heavily of all, accusing other countries of "ripping off" the United States and running trade imbalances. China has denounced the tariffs, calling them protectionist, and made it clear no one wins in a trade or tariff war. (AFP)
RTHK
5 hours ago
- Business
- RTHK
Xi, Trump to have phone call this week: White House
Xi, Trump to have phone call this week: White House The Foreign Ministry says Beijing has "no information to provide" on White House claims that the leaders of China and the US would talk this week. File photo: RTHK President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump will likely hold a long-awaited call later this week, the White House said on Monday, as trade tensions between the world's two biggest economies ratchet back up. Asked about the matter on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said Beijing had "no information to provide." Trump re-ignited strains with China last week when he accused the world's second-biggest economy of violating a deal that had led both countries to temporarily reduce huge tit-for-tat tariffs. The Commerce Ministry hit back, saying Washington had seriously undermined the consensus reached during the China-US economic and trade talks in Geneva earlier. "The two leaders will likely talk this week," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters outside the West Wing when asked whether Trump and Xi would speak. The presidents of China and the US have yet to have any confirmed contact more than five months since the Republican returned to power, despite frequent claims by the US president that a call is imminent. Trump even said in a Time Magazine interview in April that Xi had called him, but Beijing insisted that there had been no call recently. The US leader introduced in April sweeping worldwide tariffs that targeted China most heavily of all, accusing other countries of "ripping off" the United States and running trade imbalances. China has denounced the tariffs, calling them protectionist, and made it clear no one wins in a trade or tariff war. (AFP)
The Hindu
9 hours ago
- Business
- The Hindu
China says U.S. moves on computer chips and student visas 'seriously violate' tariffs truce
China criticised the U.S. on Monday over moves it alleged harmed Chinese interests, including issuing AI chip export control guidelines, stopping the sale of chip design software to China, and planning to revoke Chinese student visas. 'These practices seriously violate the consensus,' the Commerce Ministry said in a statement, referring to a China-U.S. joint statement in which the United States and China agreed to slash their massive recent tariffs, restarting stalled trade between the world's two biggest economies. But last month's de-escalation in President Donald Trump's trade wars did nothing to resolve underlying differences between Beijing and Washington and Monday's statement showed how easily such agreements can lead to further turbulence. The deal lasts 90 days, creating time for U.S. and Chinese negotiators to reach a more substantive agreement. But the pause also leaves tariffs higher than before Trump started ramping them up last month. And businesses and investors must contend with uncertainty about whether the truce will last. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. agreed to drop the 145% tax Trump imposed last month to 30%. China agreed to lower its tariff rate on U.S. goods to 10% from 125%. The Commerce Ministry said China held up its end of the deal, cancelling or suspending tariffs and non-tariff measures taken against the U.S. 'reciprocal tariffs' following the agreement. "The United States has unilaterally provoked new economic and trade frictions, exacerbating the uncertainty and instability of bilateral economic and trade relations,' while China has stood by its commitments, the statement said. It also threatened unspecified retaliation, saying China will 'continue to take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.' Trump stirred further controversy Friday, saying he will no longer be nice with China on trade, declaring in a social media post that the country had broken an agreement with the United States. Hours later, Trump said in the Oval Office that he will speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping and 'hopefully we'll work that out,' while still insisting China had violated the agreement. 'The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US,' Trump posted. 'So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!' In response to recent comments by Trump, the Commerce Ministry said of the U.S.: 'Instead of reflecting on itself, it has turned the tables and unreasonably accused China of violating the consensus, which is seriously contrary to the facts.' U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that the Chinese were 'just slow rolling the deal' from Geneva. Appearing on Fox News on Sunday, Lutnick said the U.S. was 'taking certain actions to show them what it feels like on the other side of that equation,' adding that Trump would 'work it out' with Xi. The Trump administration also stepped up the clash with China in other ways last week, announcing that it would start revoking visas for Chinese students studying in the U.S. U.S. campuses host more than 275,000 students from China. Both countries are in a race to develop advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, with Washington seeking to curb China's access to the most advanced computer chips. China is also seeking to displace the U.S. as the leading power in the Asia-Pacific, including through gaining control over close U.S. partner and leading tech giant Taiwan.
NBC News
10 hours ago
- Business
- NBC News
In China, ‘The Great American' burger is now made with Australian beef
At his restaurant in Beijing, Geng Xiaoyun used to offer a special dish of salt-baked chicken feet — or 'phoenix talons' as they are called in China — imported from America. With prices climbing 30% from March due to tariffs, the owner of Kunyuan restaurant had to pull the Chinese delicacy from the menu. 'American chicken feet are so beautiful,' Geng said. 'They're spongy so they taste great. Chinese [chicken] feet just aren't as good.' Geng can now source chicken feet from Brazil or Russia but said they just don't stand up to the American ones. He keeps a small stash for himself but hopes to serve his American phoenix talons once again. 'The price of American chicken feet will come back down,' he said, 'as long as there are no big changes in the world's political situation.' But the 90-day tariff pause agreed by China and the U.S. in Geneva in May is now under threat as both sides have accused each other of breaching the terms. On Monday, the Chinese Commerce Ministry responded to President Donald Trump 's claim that the country 'totally violated its agreement.' The ministry pointed at recent U.S. artificial intelligence chip export controls as actions that 'severely undermine' the Geneva pact. As the world waits and watches, American agricultural products have been vanishing from Chinese stores and restaurants and losing ground to other imports. U.S. Department of Agriculture grade beef has been a draw for years at Home Plate, a Beijing restaurant known locally for its American-style barbecue. However, staff said the restaurant stopped serving American beef last month. Dishes like 'The Great American' burger are made with beef imported from Australia. Australian beef has zero duty under the terms of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, though China does maintain the right to a safeguard limit on those imports. Liu Li, a beef supplier at the Sanyuanli market for three decades, said the tariffs have disrupted supply, hiking the price of U.S. beef by 50% compared to before the tariff fight. 'U.S. beef is fattier and tastier,' Li said. 'It's a shame we're in a trade war. The high price is just too much to bear.'
The Mainichi
11 hours ago
- Business
- The Mainichi
White House says Trump 'likely' to speak with China's Xi this week
WASHINGTON (Kyodo) -- U.S. President Donald Trump is "likely" to speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week, the White House said Monday, amid renewed trade tensions between the two countries. The prospect for such talks, mentioned to reporters by White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, comes after China hit back at the United States over alleged violations of a temporary bilateral trade agreement reached in mid-May in Geneva. China's Commerce Ministry on Monday released a statement saying Trump's accusation last week that Beijing had violated the agreement is "groundless" and "grossly distorts the facts." The ministry also criticized the Trump administration for introducing "discriminatory measures" against China, including issuing guidance on export controls of artificial intelligence chips and revoking visas for Chinese students studying in the United States. Such comments were made after Trump lashed out at China on Friday for "totally" violating the agreement reached in high-level talks in the Swiss city, under which the two countries committed to backing away from their respective triple-digit tariffs and trade restrictions. In a social media post, Trump said, "I made a FAST DEAL with China in order to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad of this deal, everything quickly stabilized and China got back to business as usual." "China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US," he said. The U.S.-China declaration of a 90-day truce in their trade war was seen as a major de-escalation. But the recent exchange of barbs between Washington and Beijing signals that their ongoing trade talks have hit a hitch. While Trump did not clearly identify China's alleged violation, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other U.S. officials have noted that Beijing is withholding critical minerals it agreed to release in the agreement. Critical minerals, such as rare earths, are key materials used in high-tech products. Bessent told a CBS program on Sunday that he was "confident" Trump and Xi would iron out differences in a conversation expected to happen "very soon." Trump and Xi have yet to hold any confirmed conversations since the U.S. president took office in January for a nonconsecutive second term, although he and the White House have said multiple times that a phone call was imminent.
