WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump threatened Friday to impose 100% tariffs on imports from China on Nov. 1 or sooner, potentially bringing tariffs closer to April levels. fueled fears of a global recession.
the president expressed dissatisfaction New export regulations for rare earth elements And he said on social media that there was “no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of a future visit to South Korea.
Trump later told reporters he had not canceled the meeting. “But I don’t know if we’ll be able to do that,” he said during an Oval Office appearance on a different topic. “I’m going to go there regardless, so I think I’ll probably get it.”
President Trump also suggested there may be time to gradually ease the threat of new high tariffs. “We’ll have to see what happens. That’s why we chose November 1st,” he said.
China’s new regulations
On Thursday, the Chinese government restricted access to rare earth minerals and required foreign companies to obtain special permits to transport metallic elements overseas. It also announced licensing requirements for exports of technology used to mine, smelt and recycle rare earths, adding that requests to export products used in military supplies would be denied.
President Trump called the export restrictions “shocking” and “sudden” on social media. He said China had become “very hostile” and was keeping the world “captive” by restricting access to metals and magnets used in electronics, computer chips, lasers, jet engines and other technologies.
“Beginning November 1, 2025 (or sooner, depending on further actions and changes by China), the United States will impose 100% tariffs on China, above and beyond the tariffs we currently pay,” Trump said in the post. The president also said the U.S. government would counter China by imposing its own export controls on “any and all critical software” from American companies.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
President Trump is known to use intimidation as a tactic.
of S&P500 crashes 2.7% due to concerns about rising tensions between the world’s largest economies. It was the worst day for markets since April, the last time the president ranted about import taxes this high. Still, the stock market closed before the president could spell out the terms of his threat.
Not only could the global trade war instigated by President Trump be reignited, but mounting import taxes on top of the 30% already levied on Chinese goods could cause a collapse in U.S.-China trade and slow global economic growth, according to past statements from the administration.
President Trump’s rhetoric was decisive, but he also famously backed away from threats. Earlier this year, some investors began participating in what the Financial Times called “TACO” trades, short for “Trump Always Chickens Out.”
The prospect of such large tariffs could exacerbate the president’s own political concerns and could push up inflation at a time when the job market looks fragile and the drag from the government shutdown is compounding with layoffs of federal workers.
The US and China are competing for profits trade negotiationsafter import taxes announced earlier this year sparked a trade war. The two countries agreed to gradually reduce tariffs following negotiations in Switzerland and the UK, but tensions remain as China continues to restrict US access to hard-to-extract rare earths needed for a wide range of US technologies.
The latest announcement “further complicates the global supply chain for rare earth elements,” the European Union Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China said in a statement, as there is already a backlog of export license applications from the Chinese government’s previous export restrictions on rare earth elements.
There are other flashpoints in the trade relationship, including U.S. restrictions on China’s ability to import advanced computer chips; American soybeans and a series of Tit-for-tat port charges Both countries will begin imposing taxes on Tuesday.
Analysts say there is time to calm down the situation
President Trump did not formally cancel his meeting with Xi, but he did hint that it might not take place as part of his Asia tour later this month. The trip also included a stop in Malaysia, where the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit will be held. Stop by Japan. He was then scheduled to visit South Korea and meet with President Xi ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting.
Sun Yun, the Stimson Center’s China program director, said Beijing’s move was a response to this week’s U.S. sanctions on Chinese companies and upcoming port fees targeting Chinese-linked ships, but said there was room to ease tensions to keep the summit alive. “It’s a disproportionate response,” Sun said. “The Chinese government feels there is a need for mutual de-escalation. There is room for maneuver, especially when it comes to implementation.”
Glacelin Bhaskaran, director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., said China has influence because it controls the rare earth market, accounting for 70% of rare earth mining and 93% of permanent magnet production, which are essential for high-tech products and the military.
“These restrictions undermine our ability to develop our industrial base when we need to. And secondly, this is a powerful bargaining tool,” she said.
Craig Singleton, senior director of the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, said Trump’s post could “signal the beginning of the end of the tariff truce” that lowered tax rates on both sides.
“Mutually assured chaos between our two countries is no longer a metaphor,” Singleton said. “Both sides are simultaneously reaching for their economic weapons, and neither appears willing to back down.”
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Associated Press writers Stan Cho in New York, Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.
