Beijing (AFP) – China said Monday it “firmly rejects” US claims that it had violated a sweeping tariffs deal, as tensions between the two economic superpowers showed signs of ratcheting back up. Beijing and Washington last month agreed to slash staggeringly high tariffs on each other for 90 days after talks between top officials in Geneva.
But top Washington officials last week accused China of violating the deal, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick saying Beijing was “slow-rolling” the agreement in comments to “Fox News Sunday”. China hit back Monday, saying Washington “has made bogus charges and unreasonably accused China of violating the consensus, which is seriously contrary to the facts”. “China firmly rejects these unreasonable accusations,” its commerce ministry said in a statement.
US President Donald Trump said last week that China had “totally violated” the deal, without providing details. Beijing’s commerce ministry said it “has been firm in safeguarding its rights and interests, and sincere in implementing the consensus”. It fired back that Washington “has successively introduced a number of discriminatory restrictive measures against China” since the Geneva talks. The ministry cited export controls on artificial intelligence chips, curbs on the sale of chip design software and the revocation of Chinese student visas in the United States.
“We urge the US to meet China halfway, immediately correct its wrongful actions, and jointly uphold the consensus from the Geneva trade talks,” the ministry said. If not, “China will continue to resolutely take strong measures to uphold its legitimate rights and interests,” it added.
– Trump-Xi talks? –
US officials have said they are frustrated by what they see as Chinese foot-dragging on approving export licences for rare earths and other elements needed to make cars and chips. But Washington’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent looked to ease the pressure on Sunday, saying the two sides could arrange a call between their respective heads of state to resolve their differences.
“I’m confident…this will be ironed out” in a call between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Bessent said on CBS’s “Face the Nation”. He added, however, that China was “withholding some of the products that they agreed to release”, including rare earths. On when a Trump-Xi call could take place, Bessent said: “I believe we will see something very soon.”
China has been less forthcoming, and the commerce ministry’s statement on Monday did not mention any planned conversations between the two leaders. The Geneva deal was “an important consensus reached by the two sides on the principle of mutual respect and equality, and its results were hard-won,” the ministry said. It warned Washington against “going its own way and continuing to harm China’s interests”.
Global stocks finished mixed on Friday after Trump made his social media post accusing Beijing. The Hong Kong stock exchange was down around 2 percent shortly after opening on Monday.
© 2024 AFP
