President Donald Trump on Friday announced sweeping new tariffs and export restrictions on China, escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing after China moved to choke off exports of rare-earth minerals vital to American industry.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he would impose a 100 percent additional tariff on Chinese goods and introduce new export controls on “any and all critical software” starting November 1. The measures, he added, could take effect sooner “depending on any further actions or changes taken by China.”
“It is impossible to believe that China would have taken such an action, but they have, and the rest is History,” Trump wrote.
The decision follows Beijing’s announcement this week of new export restrictions on rare earth minerals — elements essential for semiconductors, electric vehicles, and advanced weapons systems. China’s near-total dominance in processing these materials has long been viewed as a strategic vulnerability for the United States.
Average U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods already stand at roughly 57 percent, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Trump’s new action would push them above 150 percent — the highest since he took office. Earlier this year, he imposed tariffs of 145 percent before easing them after talks with Chinese officials.
Trump’s response underscores his long-held belief that the United States must not depend on a strategic rival for critical supply chains. “China thought it could use its control over rare earths to pressure us,” said one administration official. “The president is reminding them that America still has leverage.”
The move also casts doubt on an expected meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in South Korea later this month. “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,” Trump wrote earlier Friday.
Financial markets reacted sharply. The S&P 500 fell 2.7 percent, its worst single-day drop since April, while the Nasdaq lost more than 3.5 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank nearly 900 points. “It’s definitely the biggest uncertainty we’ve had since the tariff tantrum,” said Jay Hatfield, chief executive at Infrastructure Capital Advisors.
China’s new export restrictions are widely seen as a strategic effort to show its leverage over the U.S. economy. Under the new rules, global companies selling goods that contain even 0.1 percent of certain Chinese minerals must obtain Beijing’s approval — a move likely to snarl supply chains for microchips and other high-tech goods.
Beijing has gone further, imposing new port fees on U.S. ships and launching an antitrust probe into the American semiconductor giant Qualcomm. The Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese officials view these measures as a way to force Trump back to the negotiating table from a position of weakness.
But analysts say the gambit could backfire. “Beijing may have overplayed its hand,” said Craig Singleton, senior China fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “What China saw as leverage, Trump saw as betrayal, and that miscalculation could mark the beginning of the end of the tariff truce.”
The renewed trade clash underscores the fragile state of relations between the world’s two largest economies, which after months of negotiation remain mired in mutual suspicion. For Trump, the moment is an opportunity to reaffirm his America-first economic stance and to send a clear signal that the U.S. will not tolerate Chinese economic coercion — even if Wall Street wavers.
As one senior adviser put it, “The president isn’t interested in temporary calm. He’s interested in lasting strength.”
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