BEIJING: China’s Ministry of Commerce on Monday accused the United States of seriously undermining the consensus reached between the two economic powers during the talks in Geneva by successively introducing multiple discriminatory restrictive measures against Beijing.
These steps included issuing guidance on AI chip export controls, halting sales of chip design software to China, and announcing the revocation of visas for Chinese students, according to a spokesperson for the ministry.
These actions severely violated the consensus reached during a phone call between the two heads of state on Jan. 17 and gravely harmed China’s legitimate rights and interests, said the spokesperson.
The United States has unilaterally and repeatedly triggered new economic and trade disputes, increasing uncertainty and instability in bilateral economic and trade relations, the spokesperson stated.
“Instead of reflecting on its own actions, the United States has groundlessly accused China of violating the consensus, a claim that grossly distorts the facts. China firmly rejects these unjustified accusations,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson noted that China has cancelled or suspended certain tariff and non-tariff measures previously imposed on the United States as “reciprocal tariffs.”
The official emphasised that China has acted responsibly, taking the consensus reached during the Geneva talks seriously, implementing it diligently, and actively working to uphold the agreement.
“China is firm in safeguarding its rights and interests, and sincere in implementing the consensus,” the spokesperson said.
Calling the outcomes of the Geneva talks “hard-won,” the spokesperson urged the United States to work with China in the same direction, immediately correct its wrong practices, jointly uphold the consensus of the talks, and promote the healthy, stable, and sustainable development of China-US economic and trade relations.
The spokesperson warned if the US side insists on going the wrong way and continues to harm China’s interests, China will resolutely take forceful measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.
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However, US President Donald Trump on Friday said he will no longer be nice with China on trade, declaring in a social media post that the country had broken an agreement with the United States.
Hours later, Trump said in the Oval Office that he would speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping and “hopefully we’ll work that out,” while still insisting China had violated the agreement.
“The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US,” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social. “So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!”
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that the Chinese were “just slow rolling the deal” from Geneva.
The Trump administration intensified tensions with China last week by announcing plans to begin revoking visas for Chinese students studying in the United States.
