Trade war resumes: China accuses US of 'serious violation' of truce

China has accused the United States of "serious violation" of the trade truce and promised to take decisive measures to protect its interests, the Financial Times reports.

During talks in Geneva in early May, China and the US agreed on a deal that would temporarily reduce their "mutual" tariffs, which had soared to 145%.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump said that China was "totally in breach" of the agreement because the country was allegedly very slow to resume exports of rare earth metals to the US.

In response, China's Ministry of Commerce said that in recent weeks, Washington has introduced "a series of discriminatory and restrictive measures" that contradict the consensus reached in Geneva and harm "China's legitimate rights and interests."

"If the US insists on going its own way and continues to harm China's interests, China will continue to take resolute measures to safeguard its legitimate rights," the country's ministry said.

Among the US actions, China mentioned warnings against the use of Huawei chips worldwide, the suspension of sales of chip design software to Chinese companies, and the cancellation of visas for Chinese students.

The US expected that after the agreements on May 12, China would lift restrictions on the export of rare earth metals, which were introduced back in April.

Instead, China has left export controls in place and is only gradually agreeing to supply the US.

"The US unilaterally provoked new trade disputes. Instead of reflecting on its own actions, it groundlessly accused China of violating the consensus," the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said.

President Trump said he hopes to resolve this conflict in a phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping .

• In early April 2025, Trump announced the introduction of "reciprocal" tariffs ranging from 10% to 50%. Having received requests for negotiations from more than 75 countries, the US suspended them for 90 days (for most countries, a 10% tariff will apply).
• For China, which responded with an increase in tariffs, the "reciprocal" tariff rate increased to 125% (and together with the previous tariffs, 145%).
• Trump claimed that countries were calling him and "kissing his ass" to make a trade deal.
• On May 12, the US and China agreed to reduce tariffs by 115 percentage points for 90 days.