President Donald Trump lashed out at China on Friday after he reversed course on his costly tariff policy earlier this month.
Trump credited himself with saving China from “civil unrest” as a result of his high tariffs on the country. Earlier this month, China and the U.S. reached a deal to slash their massive tariffs in the escalating trade war between the two countries.
However, Trump accused China of violating its agreement with the U.S. in a heated social media post.
“Two weeks ago China was in grave economic danger! The very high Tariffs I set made it virtually impossible for China to TRADE into the United States marketplace which is, by far, number one in the World. We went, in effect, COLD TURKEY with China, and it was devastating for them. Many factories closed and there was, to put it mildly, ‘civil unrest.’ I saw what was happening and didn’t like it, for them, not for us,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“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!” he added.
China retaliated with its own tariffs last month after Trump imposed his tariffs on imports from the country. In the agreement struck earlier this month, the U.S. agreed to drop the 145% tax to 30% and China agreed to lower its tariff rate on U.S. goods to 10% from 125%.
Trump’s post comes as the president’s tariff policy has reached a hurdle in the U.S. courts.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled Wednesday that Trump overstepped his authority when he invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to declare a national emergency and plaster taxes – tariffs – on imports from almost every country in the world.
The ruling was a big setback for Trump, whose erratic trade policies have rocked financial markets, paralyzed businesses with uncertainty and raised fears of higher prices and slower economic growth. On his Truth Social platform Thursday, he wrote: “The ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade is so wrong, and so political! Hopefully, the Supreme Court will reverse this horrible, Country threatening decision, QUICKLY and DECISIVELY.”
Trump’s trade wars are far from over. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Thursday allowed the president to temporarily continue collecting the tariffs under the emergency powers law while he appeals the trade court’s decision.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.