Renewed trade tensions between the United States and China surfaced prominently on Friday after US President Donald Trump alleged that Beijing had violated a recently brokered deal aimed at de-escalating punitive tariffs. This accusation, disseminated via Trump's Truth Social platform, emerged in conjunction with remarks from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who described the ongoing trade negotiations with China as "a bit stalled" in an interview with Fox News. This development casts uncertainty on an agreement reached earlier in May, where, following high-level talks in Geneva, the world's two largest economies consented to a temporary 90-day pause in their escalating tariff conflict, substantially lowering the duties they had imposed on each other's goods.

President Trump, in his social media post, asserted that "China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US," though he did not provide specific instances of these alleged violations. Complementing the President's stance, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, during an appearance on CNBC, voiced Washington's ongoing concerns. Greer criticized Beijing for persistent practices such as "slow down and choke off things like critical minerals" and highlighted that the U.S. trade deficit with China "continues to be enormous." He further stated that the US administration was not observing any significant behavioral changes from Beijing regarding trade practices. Amidst this apparent impasse, Treasury Secretary Bessent hinted at the potential for higher-level intervention, suggesting that a direct conversation between President Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, might eventually be necessary to navigate the stalled talks.

The backdrop to this recent flare-up includes President Trump's policy, since returning to the presidency in January, of imposing sweeping tariffs across most US trading partners, with imports from China facing particularly high rates. Prior to the May de-escalation, the reciprocal, tit-for-tat levies had surged, reportedly reaching three-digit percentage points. The temporary truce established in Geneva involved Washington agreeing to reduce its additional tariffs on Chinese imports from 145 percent to 30 percent. Concurrently, China committed to lowering its added duties on US products from 125 percent to 10 percent. This 90-day pause was intended to foster a more conducive environment for comprehensive trade negotiations.

Despite the agreed-upon reductions from the May deal, the United States' overall tariff burden on Chinese imports remains comparatively higher. This is partly attributed to an additional 20 percent levy that the Trump administration recently imposed on Chinese goods, citing China's purported role in the illicit drug trade—an accusation that Beijing has consistently denied. The period of extremely high tariffs preceding the temporary de-escalation had a chilling effect on bilateral trade, prompting many businesses to suspend shipments as they awaited a resolution and a more predictable customs environment.

President Trump's assertive tariff policies are also encountering significant legal scrutiny within the United States. A trade court recently issued a ruling stating that the President had overstepped his executive authority by invoking emergency economic powers to justify the broad application of these tariffs. This decision initially blocked the implementation of the most extensive levies enacted since Trump's return to office. However, the enforcement of this ruling is currently suspended pending an ongoing appeals process. It is noteworthy that the court's decision left untouched certain sector-specific tariffs previously imposed by the Trump administration, such as those targeting steel and automotive imports.