Latest news with #JamiesonGreer
Business Recorder
7 hours ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Reciprocal tariff talks with US formally launched
KARACHI: In a major move on the economic front, Pakistan on Friday formally initiated negotiations with US authorities over the newly-announced reciprocal tariffs that Washington imposed on a wide range of trading partners, including Pakistan. Khurram Schehzad, Advisor to Pakistan's Finance Minister has revealed that Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Friday held talks with Ambassador Jamieson Greer, United States Trade Representative through a conference call and exchanged their viewpoint on reciprocal tariff with the understanding that technical level detailed discussions would follow in the coming weeks. The talks follow an April 4 announcement by US President Donald Trump, unveiling sweeping import taxes on goods entering the United States. Under the new policy, the US is set to impose a 29 percent reciprocal tariff on Pakistani goods. The measure is part of a broader global tariff strategy affecting over 185 countries and territories. Trump praises 'brilliant' Pakistanis, says Islamabad 'would love to trade with US' The announcement by the US President sparked concerns among Pakistani exporters, who fear the move could disrupt trade flows to US markets and hurt export competitiveness. In response, Pakistan's federal government has moved swiftly to engage US authorities to seek relief or adjustments. Khurram Schehzad, Advisor to Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, revealed on his official X (formerly Twitter) account that formal negotiations commenced today (Friday) via a telephonic conference call between Finance Minister Aurangzeb and US Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer. 'Pakistan's formal negotiations on US Reciprocal tariffs kick-started between Muhammad Aurangzeb, Pakistan's Finance Minister and Ambassador Jamieson Greer, United States Trade Representative through a telephonic/conference call on 30th May, 2025', Schehzad said on X. Both sides exchanged their viewpoint through a constructive engagement with the understanding that technical level detailed discussions would follow in the coming weeks, he said and added that both sides expressed confidence in advancing the negotiations for successful conclusion at the earliest. Under the US's new trade policy/tariff regime, Pakistan is among several countries facing steep duties, including India (26 percent), China (145 percent), the European Union (20 percent), and Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Afghanistan (10 percent each). Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
CNA
9 hours ago
- Business
- CNA
Trump says China has 'totally violated' Geneva deal with US on tariffs, minerals
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Friday (May 30) that China had violated an agreement with the US to mutually roll back tariffs and trade restrictions for critical minerals and issued a new veiled threat to get tougher with Beijing. "China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!" Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. Trump said that he made a "fast deal" in mid-May with Chinese officials for both countries to back away from triple-digit tariffs for 90 days. He said he did this to save China from a "devastating" situation, factory closings and civil unrest caused by his tariffs of up to 145 per cent on Chinese imports. Trump did not specify how China had violated the agreement made in Geneva, Switzerland, or what action he would take against Beijing. Asked later on Friday in the Oval Office about the China deal, Trump said: "I'm sure that I'll speak to President Xi, and hopefully we'll work that out." RARE EARTHS LICENSES But a US official told Reuters said it appears China was moving slowly on promises to issue export licenses for rare earth minerals. The deal called for China to lift trade countermeasures that restrict its exports of the critical metals needed for US semiconductor, electronics and defence production. "The Chinese are slow-rolling their compliance, which is completely unacceptable and it has to be addressed," US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CNBC, without specifying how that would happen. Reuters reported on Friday that global auto executives are sounding the alarm on an impending shortage of rare-earths magnets from China – used in everything from windshield-wiper motors to anti-lock braking sensors – that could force the closure of car factories within weeks. Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for China's embassy in Washington, said China has maintained communications on trade matters with US counterparts since the Geneva talks, but raised concerns about US export controls. "Recently, China has repeatedly raised concerns with the US regarding its abuse of export control measures in the semiconductor sector and other related practices," Liu said in a statement. "China once again urges the US to immediately correct its erroneous actions, cease discriminatory restrictions against China and jointly uphold the consensus reached at the high-level talks in Geneva." Reuters reported earlier this week that the US has ordered a broad swath of companies to stop shipping goods to China without a license and revoked some existing export licenses, according to three people familiar with the matter. Products affected include design software and chemicals for semiconductors, butane and ethane, machine tools, and aviation equipment, these sources said. A US official with knowledge of the talks told Reuters that only tariffs and Chinese non-tariff countermeasures were covered in Geneva, and that US export controls were not part of the deal. Spokespersons for the White House, the US Treasury and the US Trade Representative's Office did not respond to requests for comment. CHINA TALKS "STALLED" On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News Channel that US trade talks with China were "a bit stalled" and getting a deal over the finish line will likely need the direct involvement of Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The US-China agreement to dial back triple-digit tariffs for 90 days prompted a massive relief rally in global stocks, and along with other pauses on Trump's import taxes, has lowered the effective US tariff rate to the mid-teens from around 25 per cent in early April. It was less than 3 per cent when Trump took office in January. The temporary truce between Washington and Beijing, however, had done nothing to address the underlying reasons for Trump's tariffs on Chinese goods, mainly longstanding US complaints about China's state-dominated, export-driven economic model, leaving those issues for future talks. Major US stock indexes fell on Friday after Trump's complaint about China's compliance. Trump's social media post comes two days after a reporter infuriated him by asking for his reaction to Wall Street's new term for bets that he will back off from extreme tariff actions, the "TACO" trade, an acronym coined by a Financial Times columnist for "Trump Always Chickens Out". Trump responded by saying it was "the nastiest question". "I chicken out? Oh, I've never heard that. You mean because I reduced China from 145 per cent that I set, down to 100 and then to another number?" Trump said, later adding: "It's called negotiation." Trump's tariff strategy also suffered a major setback on Wednesday when the US Court of International Trade ruled that his broad global tariffs, including those on China, were invalid because he exceeded his authority under an emergency powers law used to back them. An appeals court has issued a temporary stay for the decision, allowing them to remain in place for now. JAPAN TALKS Japan's top trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, met with Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington for 130 minutes on Friday, the Japanese government said in a statement. It added that the two sides would continue to talk ahead of the G7 leaders' summit in Canada next month where Trump and Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba are set to meet in person. In a later briefing to reporters, Akazawa said that while progress had been made in talks with the US, it was Japan's unchanged position that any deal would require the US to drop all the tariffs, including those applied to automobiles, auto parts, aluminium and steel. "If our requests to do that are met, we may be able to come to an agreement," Akazawa told Japanese media gathered at the Japanese embassy in Washington.
CTV News
13 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Trump accuses China of violating tariff de-escalation deal
President Donald Trump waves as he departs the White House, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) U.S. President Donald Trump signaled renewed trade tensions with China on Friday, arguing that Beijing had 'totally violated' a deal to de-escalate tariffs, at a time when the two sides appeared deadlocked in negotiations. Trump's comments came after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that trade talks with China were 'a bit stalled,' in an interview with broadcaster Fox News. The world's two biggest economies had agreed earlier this month to temporarily lower staggeringly high tariffs they had imposed on each other, in a pause to last 90 days, after talks between top officials in Geneva. But on Friday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: 'China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US,' without providing further details. Asked about the post on CNBC, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said: 'The Chinese are slow-rolling their compliance, which is completely unacceptable.' He took aim at Beijing for continuing to 'slow down and choke off things like critical minerals,' adding that the U.S. trade deficit with China 'continues to be enormous.' Greer added that Washington was not seeing major shifts in Beijing's behavior. Trump's deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told reporters Friday that 'China did not fulfill the obligations that it made and committed to with the United States,' without providing details. 'And so that opens up all manner of action for the United States to ensure future compliance,' he added. On Thursday, Bessent suggested that Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could get involved, saying there could be a call between the leaders. Greer agreed with that idea. U.S. stock markets were downcast around midday on jitters that Trump could return to a more confrontational stance on China. Forthcoming deals? Washington is also in 'intensive talks' with other key trading partners, Greer told CNBC, saying he has meetings next week with counterparts from Malaysia, Vietnam and the European Union. The meetings come as he heads to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) talks in Europe. 'The negotiations are on track, and we do hope to have some deals in the next couple of weeks,' Greer said. But Trump's tariff plans are facing legal challenges. A U.S. federal trade court ruled this week that the president overstepped his authority in tapping emergency economic powers to justify sweeping tariffs. It blocked the most wide-ranging levies put in place since Trump returned to office, although this ruling has been stayed for now as an appeals process is ongoing. The decision left intact, however, tariffs that Trump imposed on sector-specific imports such as steel and autos. Greer said it was important to get through the legal process so partners have a 'better understanding of the landing zone.' Since Trump returned to the presidency in January, he has imposed sweeping tariffs on most U.S. trading partners, with especially high rates on imports from China. New tit-for-tat levies on both sides reached three digits before the de-escalation this month, where Washington agreed to temporarily reduce additional tariffs on Chinese imports from 145 per cent to 30 per cent. China, meanwhile, lowered its added duties from 125 per cent to 10 per cent. The U.S. level is higher as it also includes a 20 per cent levy that Trump recently imposed on Chinese goods over the country's alleged role in the illicit drug trade -- an accusation that Beijing has pushed back against. The high U.S.-China tariffs, while they were in place, forced much trade between both countries to grind to a halt, as businesses paused shipments to try to wait for both governments to reach a deal to lower the levies.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Explodes Over China Deal Breach -- Rare Earths and Tariffs Back on the Table
Just weeks after a fragile ceasefire in the trade dispute, President Trump reignited tensions with a scathing accusation. In a Friday post, he claimed China had TOTALLY VIOLATED the recent agreement hashed out in Geneva, adding, So much for being Mr. NICE GUY! No specifics were given, but markets didn't wait for clarityS&P 500 futures dipped 0.3% as investors braced for another round of tariff-driven volatility. The pressure point? Critical minerals. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer hinted Beijing may be throttling shipments of rare earths, essential to everything from EVs to fighter jets. We haven't seen the flow as they were supposed to be doing, Greer told CNBC. Add to that new U.S. export restrictions on chip design software and jet engine components, plus the revocation of some Chinese student visas, and it's clear the chessboard is shifting againjust not in the direction markets were hoping for. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and other companies tied to Chinese supply chains could feel the pinch if tensions escalate. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acknowledged that trade talks have stalled and floated the idea of a TrumpXi call to break the deadlock. That call hasn't happened. With minerals, chips, and even student visas now in the spotlight, the risk is no longer just more tariffsit's a broader decoupling that could weigh on earnings, supply chains, and investor confidence well beyond this quarter. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Explodes Over China Deal Breach -- Rare Earths and Tariffs Back on the Table
Just weeks after a fragile ceasefire in the trade dispute, President Trump reignited tensions with a scathing accusation. In a Friday post, he claimed China had TOTALLY VIOLATED the recent agreement hashed out in Geneva, adding, So much for being Mr. NICE GUY! No specifics were given, but markets didn't wait for clarityS&P 500 futures dipped 0.3% as investors braced for another round of tariff-driven volatility. The pressure point? Critical minerals. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer hinted Beijing may be throttling shipments of rare earths, essential to everything from EVs to fighter jets. We haven't seen the flow as they were supposed to be doing, Greer told CNBC. Add to that new U.S. export restrictions on chip design software and jet engine components, plus the revocation of some Chinese student visas, and it's clear the chessboard is shifting againjust not in the direction markets were hoping for. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and other companies tied to Chinese supply chains could feel the pinch if tensions escalate. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acknowledged that trade talks have stalled and floated the idea of a TrumpXi call to break the deadlock. That call hasn't happened. With minerals, chips, and even student visas now in the spotlight, the risk is no longer just more tariffsit's a broader decoupling that could weigh on earnings, supply chains, and investor confidence well beyond this quarter. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
