Trump Imposes 100% Tariff on Chinese Imports Amid Rare Earth Minerals Dispute

Trump announced an additional 100 percent tariff on Chinese imports to take effect from November 1.

Washington:

US President Donald Trump declared a new 100 percent tariff on China Friday and threatened to cancel his planned meeting with Xi Jinping, reigniting trade tensions with Beijing over restrictions on rare earth minerals exports.

Trump stated that the additional levies, along with US export controls on "any and all critical software," would become effective November 1 in response to what he described as Beijing's "extraordinarily aggressive" actions.

"It is impossible to believe that China would have taken such an action, but they have, and the rest is History," he posted on Truth Social.

Financial markets reacted negatively as the trade conflict between the United States and China flared again, with the Nasdaq dropping 3.6 percent and the S&P 500 falling 2.7 percent.

Chinese products currently face US tariffs of 30 percent, implemented by Trump over accusations that Beijing contributes to the fentanyl trade and engages in unfair practices.

China's retaliatory tariffs currently stand at 10 percent.

Trump had earlier signaled these tariffs in a detailed Truth Social post, claiming China had sent letters to countries worldwide outlining export controls on rare earth minerals.

Rare earth elements are essential for manufacturing smartphones, electric vehicles, military equipment, and renewable energy technology. China dominates global production and processing of these materials.

"There is no way that China should be allowed to hold the World 'captive,'" Trump wrote, characterizing China's position as "very hostile".

The US president subsequently questioned his plans to meet Chinese President Xi at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

This would have been the first meeting between the leaders of the world's two largest economies since Trump returned to office in January.

"I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so," he stated.

Beijing did not immediately respond to these comments.

Trump expressed confusion about China's timing, saying: "Some very strange things are happening in China! They are becoming very hostile."

He claimed other countries had contacted the United States expressing anger over China's "great Trade hostility, which came out of nowhere."

Trump also accused Beijing of "lying in wait" despite what he characterized as six months of good relations, which had seen progress on bringing TikTok's US operations under American control as required by recent legislation.

His outburst comes shortly after he had spoken about the importance of meeting Xi at the APEC summit and mentioned plans to visit China next year.

Washington and Beijing engaged in a tit-for-tat tariffs war earlier this year that threatened to severely disrupt trade between the world's two largest economies.

Both sides eventually agreed to reduce tensions, but the truce has remained fragile.

Trump said last week he would press Xi on US soybean purchases as American farmers, a key voting bloc in his 2024 election victory, struggle with the consequences of his trade policies.

China announced earlier Friday that it would impose "special port fees" on ships operated by and built in the United States after Washington implemented charges for Chinese-linked vessels in April.

Additionally, the US communications watchdog reported successfully removing "millions" of listings for banned Chinese products from commerce platforms.

"The Communist Party of China is engaged in a multi-prong effort to insert insecure devices into Americans' homes and businesses," Brendan Carr, head of the Federal Communications Commission, stated on X.