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Trump Accuses China Of Violating Agreement He Did Not Adhere To
The U.S. President is performing one of his usual stunts:
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump – May 30, 2025, 12:09 UTC
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I made a FAST DEAL with China in order to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation, and I didn’t want to see that happen. Because of this deal, everything quickly stabilized and China got back to business as usual. Everybody was happy! That is the good news!!! The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!
Trump's take is, of course, nonsense. But to see that one has to take a step back.
Trump had raised absurdly high tariffs against China which then had responded in kind. Additional hostile measures imposed by the U.S. were targeting China's import and production of semiconductors.
In response China limited the export of products for which it holds a monopoly. These are mainly rare-earth elements and magnets produced with them. While these are rather small items trade-wise they are needed to make modern electrical motors and are thus a significant part of the supply chain for higher level production items.
The high tariffs on products from China threatened to lead to empty shelves in U.S. markets. The financial markets were concerned. The U.S. dollar, stocks markets and treasuries decreased in price. A financial crisis was developing. Trump had to pull back.
On May 11 the U.S. and Chinese trade representative met in Geneva. In a Joint Statement they agreed on a pull back from high tariffs and to pause other trade related measures. The preamble of the deal is making the most important points:
The Government of the United States of America (the “United States”) and the Government of the People’s Republic of China (“China”),
Recognizing the importance of their bilateral economic and trade relationship to both countries and the global economy;
Recognizing the importance of a sustainable, long-term, and mutually beneficial economic and trade relationship;
Reflecting on their recent discussions and believing that continued discussions have the potential to address the concerns of each side in their economic and trade relationship; and
Moving forward in the spirit of mutual opening, continued communication, cooperation, and mutual respect;
The Parties commit to take the following actions by May 14, 2025:
Both sides reduced their tariffs. China also promised to reduce some of its non tariff measures:
China will [..] adopt all necessary administrative measures to suspend or remove the non-tariff countermeasures taken against the United States since April 2, 2025.
The financial markets relaxed and everyone was happy about it.
But on May 14, the very same day the new rules were to apply, the U.S. introduced new and extremely harsh measures against Chinese products:
The US Commerce Department issued guidance stating that the use of Huawei Technologies Co’s Ascend artificial intelligence (AI) chips “anywhere in the world” violates the government’s export controls, escalating US efforts to curb technological advances in China.
The agency’s Bureau of Industry and Security said in a statement on Tuesday that it is also planning to warn the public about “the potential consequences of allowing US AI chips to be used for training and inference of Chinese AI models”.
While this may not have been a technical breach of the Geneva agreement it certainly violated the spirit of the agreed upon Joint Statement:
Barely a week into a U.S.-China truce in their long-running trade war, Beijing has accused Washington of violating the temporary agreement reached in Geneva.
The Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Monday that the U.S. was taking "discriminatory measures" against China, after the U.S. Commerce Department recently warned American businesses to avoid Chinese-made microchips, specifically those produced by Chinese tech giant Huawei.
Both countries have walked back a series of punitive actions against the other as part of a 90-day pause agreed at the recent talks in Switzerland after U.S. President Donald Trump had imposed heavy tariffs. A consultation mechanism was created to discuss their wide-ranging trade disagreements, but the scope of the special channel may now be under dispute.
The Chinese government's strongly worded pushback against sustained U.S. industrial policy in emerging and critical technologies—such as advanced computer chips fueling the race for AI supremacy—suggests the deep-rooted economic security concerns present in both camps will not be easily addressed despite agreements on paper.
China demanded that the U.S. "correct its mistakes". As the U.S. made not attempt to do so China slow walked (archived) the lifting of export restrictions on rare-earth metals and on magnets made thereof:
On May 12, the countries announced after weekend meetings in Geneva that they would suspend most of their recently imposed tariffs. Since then, however, both governments have shown that they are still prepared to wield controls over critical exports as weapons against one another, with moves that are potentially even more damaging to trade and global supply chains.
China has restricted its exports of rare earth magnets, which are crucial for cars, semiconductors, aircraft and many other applications. Close to 90 percent of the world’s rare earth metals, including magnets, are produced in China.
And the United States on May 13 banned the latest semiconductors from Huawei, a Chinese electronics giant. Then on Wednesday, President Trump suspended the shipment of American semiconductors and some aerospace equipment needed for China’s commercial aircraft, the C919, a signature project in China’s push toward economic self-reliance.
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Last week, Ford Motor temporarily closed a factory in Chicago that makes Ford Explorer sport utility vehicles after one of its suppliers ran out of the magnets. In most new cars, the magnets are used in dozens of electric motors that operate brake and steering systems, fuel injectors and even power seats.
On Monday, China granted some export licenses for rare earth magnets to be shipped to the United States and Europe, …
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Several companies in Europe, including Volkswagen, were granted permission by Beijing to continue procuring rare earth magnets soon after China began enforcing export controls on them in April. American companies have been juggling factory schedules, reassigning their dwindling magnet supplies to continue making their most profitable products.
China asserts that the U.S. is in breech of the Geneva agreement. As the U.S. introduced new non-tariff barriers against Chinese products China has stopped to lift its own non-tariff measures against the export of products the U.S. needs.
Trump's claim that China "HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US" is obfuscating the fact that the U.S. was the first to violate its commitments.
This again proves that the U.S. is non-agreement-capable (недоговороспособны (archived)).
Anyone dealing with it is well advised to always keep measures in hand that can be used to compel adherence to whatever agreement is made.
China, like Russia, Iran and others, has long learned that.
So what is Mr. NICE GUY going to do about that?
Posted by: CalDdre | Jun 1 2025 4:41 utc | 230
Since you want to play word games, let’s do it. I know your type – you’re the same sort that argued that the US is not bound by the One China policy to recognize the PRC as the sole legal government of China.
Indeed he wrote that at one point, he also wrote: “the U.S. was the first to violate its commitments”, I presume in reference to the preamble, which is not binding language (i.e., not a “commitment”). And in any event, since China did not demand in the statement that US remove existing IT/IP sanctions, it itself does not appear to believe that such sanctions violate the preamble language you quoted. (Don’t read this as me approving of those sanctions, this is a technical analysis.)
Posted by: CalDdre | Jun 1 2025 4:41 utc | 230
Since b did not specify if the violation that occurred was against the spirit (good faith) of the joint statement or the technical language, readers are free to interpret either way.
The spirit of the joint statement is committing both the US and China to backing down from the trade war. Announcing the joint statement in May 12 then having the US BIS announce the ban of Huawei chip usage worldwide on May 13 is a violation of the spirit of the joint statement by the US, proving that the US is non-agreement-capable.
Now let’s talk about the technical side of things.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/05/joint-statement-on-u-s-china-economic-and-trade-meeting-in-geneva/
The Parties commit to take the following actions by May 14, 2025: … China will … (ii) adopt all necessary administrative measures to suspend or remove the non-tariff countermeasures taken against the United States since April 2, 2025.
I am quoting the White House version of the joint statement because it’s the one that will be worded in a manner that maximally benefits the US.
The new point that you brought up
It actually did: the preface to both parties’ commitments provides that”[t]he Parties commit to take the following actions by May 14, 2025:”.
Posted by: CalDdre | Jun 1 2025 4:41 utc | 230
does not bind China to complete the actions by a certain date. It simply says that China will take the actions by a certain date.
Secondly and more importantly, China can very credibly claim that its rare earth exports control is not part of the “non-tariff countermeasures taken against the United States since April 2, 2025.” Nothing in the announcement regarding the rare earth export control from China’s Ministry of Commerce even remotely suggests that it’s targeted against the United States. No countries were named. You can view the announcement here: https://www.mofcom.gov.cn/zwgk/zcfb/art/2025/art_9c2108ccaf754f22a34abab2fedaa944.html Thank you, MoA poster Silent Waves, for prompting me to research more about the rare earth export control.
If you believe that the US did not violate the joint statement technically, then there is no reason to believe that China violated the joint statement technically as well, unless you believe in the selective application of standards.
Don’t read this as me approving of those sanctions, this is a technical analysis.
Posted by: CalDdre | Jun 1 2025 4:41 utc | 230
When you’re doggedly propounding that China is obligated to adhere to the joint statement in a way that serves US interests while ignoring a blatant violation of the spirit of the contract by the US, we know whose interests you truly serve.
By the way, did you know that Legalism is a school of thought (much like Confucianism) that originated in China circa 300 BC?
Posted by: All Under Heaven | Jun 2 2025 9:37 utc | 280
Let’s immortalize these responses to my charge that Americans who protested against Vietnam War are now supporters of the Gazan genocide.
Bollocks. Most of us VWPs are dead by now.
Young left leaners have been targeted to support imperialism by a flood of digital media, cloaked by tptb as something “woke.”
Posted by: suzan | Jun 1 2025 2:58 utc | 216
Trump calls Harvard an “[antisemitic], far-left institution” because its students protest against the illegal Israeli occupation of Gaza and atrocities perpetrated against Palestinians by the Israelis. By your definition, protesting Israel is supporting imperialism.
What would you suggest they do?
(fyi, I’m both a Viet vet and a Viet war protester and you can take your Hurt Locker comment and ram it. If you’ve never been a child soldier or had to confront being conscripted at the age of 18 you should stfu.)
I appreciate a lot of what you write but in that post you paint with much too large a brush.
Posted by: waynorinorway | Jun 1 2025 6:55 utc | 242
Thank you for proving my point that the warmongers will portray themselves as victims to absolve themselves of all responsibility and to garner sympathy. “Propaganda controls us, we have no free will, so we are innocent!” or “I was forced to follow orders, there’s nothing I could do!” That sort of defense sounds awfully familiar.
Now, let’s look at some of the most prominent “peace” politicians on the two major factions of the uniparty system who are Vietnam War protestors (VWPs are very much alive, contrary to what some MoA posters claim) and whose legitimacy are derived from the vast majority of the working-age and voting Americans who support them: the progressive liberals and the reactionary liberals.
Bernie Sanders threw his support behind Killer Kamala’s presidential bid, and he supported Genocide Joe during Joe’s reign. As recently as April 12, 2025, Sanders is still mouthing nonsense like “Israel has the right to defend itself”, as video evidence will show.
https://x.com/zei_squirrel/status/1911214962204168553
at his rally today in LA Bernie Sanders once again repeated the same old genocidal Zionist hasbara “Israel has the right to defend itself” line. He is doing this 18 months into a genocide that he refuses to recognize. He is an irredeemable moral monster. An utterly depraved freak
Remember, Bernie Sanders was a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War. One Richard Ellenberger, who claims to be a Vietnam War vet himself, considers conscientious objectors to be more worthy of respect than those who did not resist the draft.
https://www.quora.com/How-many-conscientious-objectors-were-imprisoned-during-the-Vietnam-War
Were any US conscientious objectors sent to prison during the Vietnam War?
Yes, there were conscientious objectors sent to prison.
One of the more famous was David Harris, husband of Joan Baez.
He was convicted of “wilful refusal to report…” and sentenced to (5) years in Federal prison.
He served (20) months.
As a Marine Vietnam veteran, I have a hell of a lot more respect for people like Harris who were willing to go to prison rather than be drafted to kill little Asian people.
I bring up conscientious objection to being drafted for two reasons. First, it demonstrates that there are other things that could be done when confronted with a draft instead of blindly complying, contrary to what some MoA posters are suggesting. Second, being a supposedly principled “anti-Vietnam War” American did not stop people like Sanders from later supporting imperialism.
Shouldn’t the world be breathing a collective sigh of relief to learn that America’s progressive liberal champions Sanders/Harris/Biden were not voted into office to continue the Gazan genocide and we instead got the reactionary liberal champion Trump and his team of Musk, Vance, Rubio and Hegseth?
Trump certainly talks a big game about being a lover of peace. Trump hated the Vietnam War so much that his heels willed bone spurs into existence to keep him from fighting an unjust war. Trump was so proud he even trumpeted his anti-Vietnam War credentials in 2019.
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/trump-says-was-never-a-fan-of-vietnam-war
“I was never a fan of that war, I’ll be honest with you. I thought it was a terrible war. I thought it was very far away,” Mr Trump told interviewer Piers Morgan on ITV television while visiting Britain for ceremonies marking the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in World War II.
So what does peace president Trump, who is no fan of the Vietnam War, do when confronted by the Gazan genocide? Why, send more weapons to Israel of course!
https://il.usembassy.gov/military-assistance-to-israel/
I have signed a declaration to use emergency authorities to expedite the delivery of approximately $4 billion in military assistance to Israel. The decision to reverse the Biden Administration’s partial arms embargo, which wrongly withheld a number of weapons and ammunition from Israel, is yet another sign that Israel has no greater ally in the White House than President Trump.
This was in March 1, 2025. Bravo Mr. Trump, keep arming the colonial regime for the sake of peace!
I’m already being very generous to Americans by linking only the Vietnam War to the Gazan genocide. There’s a huge gap between Vietnam and Gaza where America was engaged in its usual program of perpetual war, either by participating directly or through its proxies. Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Argentina, Indonesia – the list goes on and on and on.
All these wars showed that Americans have had plenty of opportunities to learn from their past mistakes. Yet, every single time a new war pops up, the Americans will say, “This time, we’re fighting the war for the right reasons!”
The only conclusion that can be reached is that Americans do not consider their wars to be mistakes. Americans’ actual quibble with the wars are that the returns/spoils – which were already obscene – weren’t greater for the costs incurred. The decline in America’s ability to extract wealth from the rest of the world via war is what gave rise to anti-war sentiments, and even then, these anti-war sentiments are weak as shown by how the uniparty still enjoys broad popular support among Americans despite the uniparty showing zero commitment to ending the Gazan genocide. Americans are still chasing that high where they are the only country whose industrial capacity was not devastated post-WW2 and could dictate the terms in how the world should be organized. That was when America was “great”, when it ruled over the ashes of a ruined world.
I understand why America has a natural empathy for the Israel cause. Israel is merely emulating the settler colonialism model pioneered so successfully by America, the Manifest Destiny model. Other settler colonial states like Australia and Canada found great success with the model, but none of them were as successful as the great and mighty US of A. What a shame that the Nazis in Germany failed to replicate American perfection with their cheap knockoff Lebensraum model.
Early European settlers in America suffered from religious persecution and had to flee to America. They are victims too. Does it give these Europeans the right to cleanse the continent of Native Americans?
Many Israeli are Jews who are driven out of Europe by the covert Juden Raus policy post-WW2 (the establishment of the Israeli state and pressuring Jews to migrate there). Poor Israeli soldiers are conscripted. They are victims too. Does it give them the right to cleanse Palestinians from Palestine?
Posted by: All Under Heaven | Jun 2 2025 9:53 utc | 281
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