Chinese officials have told some state-run agricultural companies to halt purchases of U.S. goods such as soybeans after President Trump announced limited actions in response to Beijing’s recent security crackdown on Hong Kong.
Beijing has asked some state-run firms to pause their purchases of U.S. agricultural goods, including soybeans, according to multiple outlets.
The move comes after Mr. Trump said on Friday he was ending U.S. preferential treatment for Hong Kong and that the U.S. plans to impose sanctions on officials involved in restricting freedoms in Hong Kong.
China’s response comes as Mr. Trump and other leaders have criticized Beijing for its handling of the coronavirus, and threatens to upend the first phase of a hard-fought trade agreement the U.S. and China struck before the pandemic took hold earlier this year.
On Friday, Mr. Trump said Beijing’s new crackdown on Hong King is a “tragedy.”
“China claims it is protecting national security, but the truth is that Hong Kong was secure and prosperous as a free society,” the president said. “Beijing’s decision reverses all of that. It extends the reach of China’s invasive state security apparatus into what was formerly a bastion of liberty. China has replaced its promise formula of ’one country, two systems’ with ’one country, one system.’”
The Trump administration had previously said it expected China to follow through on its pledge to increase imports by about $200 billion over the next two years as part of the trade deal struck in January.
The president had previously threatened to cancel the pact, which also included rolling back U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, if China didn’t hold up its end of the deal on buying U.S. exports.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.