United States (US) President Donald Trump has said President of China, Xi Jinping, is tough and “extremely hard to make a deal with”.
This is coming some days after the US President accused China of violating an agreement to roll back tariffs and trade restrictions.
Trump said on his Truth Social online platform on Wednesday, in the midst of growing tensions between the two largest economies in the world over their tariff truce, “I like President XI of China, always have, and always will, but he is VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH!!!”
On Monday, Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, had said Trump would discuss with Xi to sort out differences on last month’s tariff agreement, among larger trade issues.
American and Chinese negotiators, In May, had reached a deal in Geneva, Switzerland, that lowered US tariffs on goods from China from 145 percent to 30 percent. In exchange, China reduced its tariffs on US goods from 125 percent to 10 percent.
As described by analysts, the agreement as unexpected, pointing out that the two sides had been so widely apart on their tariff dispute. However, the deal was seen as a welcome development preventing a bigger clash that unnerved the world market.
But on Monday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said the US has “severely violated” the deal, adding that it would make moves to defend its interests.
China Commerce Ministry said, US violations included the halting sales of computer chip design software to Chinese companies, the blocking of usage of Chinese-made chips from the tech giant Huawei, as well as the cancellation of visas for Chinese students.
The ministry further said, US actions severely violate an agreement reached in January during an earlier phone conversation between Xi and Trump.
The US Leader had also ranted on social media last week, accusing Beijing of “totally” violating the agreement with America.
He did not indicate which provisions in the May tariffs deal were violated. However, Jamieson Greer, US Trade Representative, was subsequently quoted in media reports as saying Beijing had failed to clear away non-tariff barriers levied against the US, as agreed under the deal.
An American trade court ruled last week that Trump exceeded his authority in imposing the bulk of his tariffs on imports from China as well as other countries under an emergency powers act.
Less than 24 hours later, a federal appeals court brought it back, saying it was considering the government’s appeal.
