Trump says China has ‘totally violated’ agreement with U.S. on tariffs

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said China had violated an agreement on tariffs with the United States.

“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.

U.S. trade talks with China were “a bit stalled” and getting a deal over the finish line will likely need the direct involvement of President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Thursday.

Two weeks after breakthrough negotiations that resulted in a temporary truce in the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies, Bessent said progress since then has been slow, but said he expects more talks in the next few weeks.

The U.S.-China agreement to dial back triple-digit tariffs for 90 days prompted a massive relief rally in global stocks. But it did nothing to address the underlying reasons for Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods, mainly longstanding U.S. complaints about China’s state-dominated, export-driven economic model, leaving those issues for future talks.

Reporting by Susan Heavey, Katharine Jackson; Editing by Sharon Singleton

Reuters