Washington playing devious blame game with violating Geneva agreement claims: China Daily editorial

The United States administration's latest salvo of attacks accusing China of "violating" the agreement reached in the recent Geneva meeting between the two sides is slyly manipulative.

Rather than "totally violating the agreement", as US President Donald Trump claimed in a post on his Truth Social platform on Friday evening, without specifying how, or "slow-rolling" the agreement, as US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick alleged in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, China has fully complied with the agreement to slash the high tariffs on US goods for 90 days after the talks between top officials from the two sides in Geneva.

Following the joint statement on May 12, China has canceled or suspended relevant tariff and non-tariff measures against the US' "reciprocal tariffs" in accordance with the consensus the two sides reached in Geneva.

A letter from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation to the White House may have prompted the US administration to falsely accuse China of not honoring the agreement.

The AAI is frustrated by what it considers to be China's foot-dragging on approving export licences for rare earths and other elements that are essential for cars, especially electric ones, and chips.

That has prompted the US government to initiate its manipulative blame game, with Trump's deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, telling reporters that China's failure to fulfill its obligations "opens up all manner of action for the United States to ensure future compliance".

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the US Department of Commerce confirmed that it was reviewing exports of strategic significance to China, and in some cases suspending existing export licences or imposing additional licence requirements while a review is pending.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce fired back by issuing a statement pointing out that it is Washington that has successively introduced a number of discriminatory restrictive measures against?China since the Geneva talks.

These include export controls on artificial intelligence chips, curbs on the sale of chip design software, and the revoking of visas for Chinese students in the US.?

And a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said that China is committed to keeping global industry and supply chains stable, and it stands ready to strengthen dialogue and cooperation on export controls with relevant countries and regions.

It is the US that has seriously undermined the existing consensus of the Geneva meeting, and seriously damaged the goodwill generated. In doing so, the US side has unilaterally provoked new economic and trade frictions, exacerbating the uncertainty and instability of bilateral economic and trade relations.

Other economies should be clear-eyed that the US is trying to manipulate the consensus into shackles that it intends to impose on China by only highlighting the other side's commitments and ignoring its own obligations, a practice it will no doubt apply to other agreements, not just the one reached with China.

Ridiculously and predictably, instead of trying to build on the positive momentum generated by the talks in Geneva to meet each other halfway, the US administration has tried to manipulate the agreement by trying to make it a zero-sum game.

While faithfully honoring its commitments in the agreement, China will resolutely safeguard its rights and interests, and will never submit to the US' coercive practices.

The Joint Statement on China-US Economic and Trade Meeting in Geneva, which is an important consensus reached by the two sides under the principle of mutual respect and equal consultation, was hard-won and should be cherished.

The US side should stop trying to exploit the agreement and instead work with China to build on the achievements of the Geneva meeting to reach a comprehensive agreement that promotes the healthy, stable and sustainable development of China-US economic and trade relations.