“Everybody was happy! That is the good news!!! 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!” Trump wrote in the strongly worded post.
The accusation follows a temporary truce between the U.S. and China reached just two weeks ago, in which both sides agreed to ease triple-digit tariffs for a 90-day negotiation period.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Thursday that discussions with Beijing had “stalled,” though he emphasized that dialogue was ongoing.
At a White House briefing, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer declined to comment on the status of the negotiations or whether the United States would reinstate tariffs at the previous 145% rate.
The short-lived truce came after Trump imposed steep tariffs on Chinese imports, prompting immediate retaliation from Beijing. Trump now claims that the pressure nearly crippled China's economy and forced them to the negotiating table.
“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,’” Trump claimed in his post, adding that his administration “saved China from grave economic danger” by allowing trade talks to proceed.
While Trump’s statements may energize his political base, trade experts warn that the escalating rhetoric could jeopardize any remaining chance of a durable trade resolution between the two nations.
