President Donald Trump ripped China on Friday, announcing it “totally violated” its tariff de-escalation agreement with the United States.
Trump’s message comes weeks after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the U.S. Trade Representative Jameson Greer reached a 90-day reduction on tariffs with China during a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland as broader talks unfold.
“Two weeks ago China was in grave economic danger! The very high Tariffs I set made it virtually impossible for China to TRADE into the United States marketplace which is, by far, number one in the World,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“We went, in effect, COLD TURKEY with China, and it was devastating for them. Many factories closed and there was, to put it mildly, ‘civil unrest.’ I saw what was happening and didn’t like it, for them, not for us,” he added.
Trump said he made a quick agreement to “save” China from what he forecasted “to be a very bad situation.”
“Because of this deal, everything quickly stabilized and China got back to business as usual. Everybody was happy! That is the good news!” he wrote.
“The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!” the president continued, implying a change in approach.
The United States and China agreed to drop their respective 125 percent tariffs on each other to 10 percent for the 90-day period in their negotiations earlier this month.
However, the 20 percent tariff on China for its role in supplying precursor chemicals to illegal manufacturers of fentanyl is still in effect.
Greer told CNBC Friday that China was “slow rolling their compliance” in the deal.
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