China warns US pressure tactics, coercion won’t work for trade talks to happen

Ministries of foreign affairs and commerce urge Washington to ‘respect facts’ as Beijing rejects US claims of violating Geneva trade truce

Reading Time:2 minutes

Ahead of a possible phone call between the leaders of China and the United States, Beijing has pushed back against White House accusations that it had violated a tariff truce recently reached in Geneva. Photo: AP

Published: 6:47pm, 3 Jun 2025

Beijing on Tuesday urged Washington to “respect facts, stop spreading disinformation, and correct its wrong practices” to create conditions for meaningful dialogue amid a dispute between the world’s two largest economies over a recent trade deal.

“Pressure and coercion are not the right way to engage with China,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in Beijing a day after the White House said that it was “likely” that US President Donald Trump would speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week about the trade dispute.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said during a TV interview on Sunday that details on trade deals between China and the US “will be ironed out”.

The latest remarks came after the two countries accused each other of violating the tariff truce reached in Geneva last month, which committed the world’s two largest economies to reduce tariffs by 115 per cent on each other’s goods for 90 days.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump posted on social media that China “has totally violated its agreement with us”.

On the same day, reports emerged that Washington had suspended the sale of certain jet engine technology and chip design software to China – the latest in a series of export controls targeting the country’s hi-tech industry.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x