China and the United States accuse each other of failing to honor agreements. The trade agreements from May were intended to lower import duties, at least temporarily.
“China has – perhaps unsurprisingly to some – violated the agreement with us,” US President Donald Trump said on Friday. He did not explain which agreements China would violate.
The Chinese Ministry of Economic Affairs calls Trump’s claim “unfounded”. In a response on Monday morning, the ministry accuses the US of “again” causing economic tensions.
In addition, Washington itself would not comply with the agreements. For example, chips may no longer be sold to Chinese companies. The US is also pausing the issuance of visas to foreign students. That also affects Chinese students, the Chinese ministry writes.
The trade agreements between the two countries are three weeks old. They state, among other things, that mutual import duties will be significantly lower for ninety days.
After Trump announced much higher duties on Chinese products in the first months of his term, China retaliated with similar increases. At the height of the battle, there was an import duty of 145 percent on most Chinese products and 125 percent on American goods.