US President Donald Trump signalled renewed trade tensions with China on Friday, arguing that Beijing had "violated" a deal to de-escalate tariffs, at a time when both sides appeared deadlocked in negotiations.

Trump's post on his Truth Social platform came hours after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that trade talks with China were "a bit stalled," in an interview with broadcaster Fox News.

The world's two biggest economies had agreed this month to temporarily lower staggeringly high tariffs they had imposed on each other, in a pause to last 90 days, after talks between top officials in Geneva.

But on Friday, Trump wrote that: "China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US," without providing further details.

Later, he told reporters he intends to speak to President Xi Jinping to try to resolve their differences.

"I'm sure that I'll speak to President Xi, and hopefully we'll work that out," Trump said at the White House, speaking alongside billionaire Elon Musk.

On Thursday, Bessent had suggested that Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could get involved in the situation. He said there could be a call between both leaders eventually.

Since Trump returned to the presidency in January, he has imposed sweeping tariffs on most US trading partners, with especially high rates on imports from China.

New tit-for-tat levies from both sides reached three digits before the de-escalation earlier this month, where Washington agreed to temporarily reduce its additional tariffs on Chinese imports from 145 percent to 30 percent.

China, meanwhile, lowered its added duties from 125 percent to 10 percent.

Beijing has denounced the US tariffs, calling them unilateral and protectionist. (Agencies)

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Last updated: 2025-05-31 HKT 03:52