China says the US has "severely violated" their trade truce and that it will take strong measures to defend its interests.

China's Ministry of Commerce said Washington has "seriously undermined" the agreement reached during talks in Geneva last month, when both countries lowered tariffs on goods imported from each other.

The spokesperson added that US actions have also severely violated the consensus reached during a phone call in January between China's leader Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump.

The comments come after Trump said on Friday that China had "totally violated its agreement with us".

The US President did not give details but Trade Representative Jamieson Greer later said China had not been removing non-tariff barriers as agreed under the deal.

Under the trade truce struck in May at a meeting in Geneva, the US lowered tariffs imposed on goods from China from 145% to 30%. China's retaliatory tariffs on US goods dropped from 125% to 10%.

On Monday, Beijing said US violations of the agreement included stopping sales of computer chip design software to Chinese companies, warning against using chips made by Chinese tech giant Huawei, and cancelling visas for Chinese students.

The deal reached in Geneva came as a surprise to many analysts as it seemed that the two sides were incredibly far apart on many trade issues.

This showed that during face-to-face talks Washington and Beijing can reach agreements.

But as the rhetoric is once again ratcheting up, the fragility of the current truce has been highlighted and gives an indication of just how challenging it may be to reach a longer-term trade deal.

Although the fresh accusations may suggest that talks between Washington and Beijing are not going well, two top White House officials suggested on Sunday that Trump and Xi could hold talks soon.

Treasury Secretary Bessent told CBS News, the BBC's US news partner, that details of the trade will be "ironed out" once Xi and Trump speak, but he did not say exactly when that conversation is expected to happen.

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told ABC News that the two leaders are expected to talk this week and "both sides have expressed a willingness to talk".

"The bottom line is that we've got to be ready in case things don't happen the way we want," Hassett said of the expected talks.

But the Chinese side prefers agreements to be done at a lower level first before they reach the desk of the president.

Last week, Trump announced the US would double its current tariffs on steel and aluminium from 25% to 50%, starting on Wednesday.

Speaking at a rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Friday, Trump said the move would help boost the local steel industry and national supply, while reducing reliance on China.

Source:
courtesy of BBC NEWS

by Peter Hoskins | Laura Bicker

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