Donald Trump threatened China with a "massive increase" on tariffs and may cancel his upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping after China spent the past two days making "very hostile" trade moves—including aggressive rare-earths export restrictions and an attack on a key US semiconductor company.
In a Truth Social post, Trump accused China of trying to "clog" markets by restricting not just access to rare earths but also by placing export controls on "foreign companies that use Chinese rare earth equipment or material."
These rules are intended to take effect December 1, with many outlets reporting the rules will give China more leverage ahead of the Trump-Xi trade talks that are supposed to take place in South Korea in two weeks.
Trump confirmed that Xi did not reach out before the restrictions were imposed. He further claimed that other countries had contacted the US and agreed they, too, are "extremely angry at this great trade hostility, which came out of nowhere."
"Our relationship with China over the past six months has been a very good one, thereby making this move on trade an even more surprising one," Trump wrote, noting that "there seems to be no reason" to meet with Xi now.
Unsurprisingly, Trump's first move was to threaten tariffs on Chinese exports, but he claimed that "many other countermeasures" are under "serious consideration."
Accusing China of wielding its rare earths monopoly—with China controlling about 70 percent of the global rare earths supply—Trump threatened that "the US has monopoly positions also, much stronger and more far reaching than China’s."
"I have just not chosen to use them, there was never a reason for me to do so—UNTIL NOW!" Trump wrote.
Trump said that it now depends "on what China says" when he confronts them about the export controls. If that talk doesn't go well, "I will be forced, as President of the United States of America, to financially counter their move," Trump wrote, threatening that "for every element that they have been able to monopolize, we have two."
The escalation in US-China tensions comes as US consumers are starting to see prices rise on products impacted by Trump's global tariffs.
It will become clearer how hard US consumers may be hit once Trump clarifies how "massive" the China tariff may be. Notably, a prior truce reached between the US and China came after both countries acknowledged that imposing tariffs as high as 145 percent could hurt everyone.
Already, Trump has suggested that his most recent threat to increase tariffs on Chinese imports will likely introduce more hardships for the US in the short-term.
"Ultimately, though potentially painful, it will be a very good thing, in the end, for the USA," Trump wrote.
“Every American will be negatively affected”
It's unclear how Trump may further retaliate, as China's policy risks creating shortages around the world.
Trump claimed that China's recent moves came as "a real surprise" at a time when relations were otherwise good, insisting that "nobody has ever seen anything like this." But Reuters noted that China's efforts to restrict foreign countries from using rare earth materials was "mimicking US rules that restrict exports of semiconductor-related products."
Further, The Wall Street Journal reported that Beijing confirmed that other steps perceived as hostile that take effect immediately—like requiring "licenses for exports of certain lithium batteries and some equipment and materials used to make them" and imposing "a special port fee on US vessels docking at Chinese ports"—came in retaliation "against the Trump administration’s move to levy fees on Chinese ships."
The chairman of the House of Representatives' Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), issued a statement, suggesting that, unlike Trump, he'd seen China's rare earths move coming. He pushed Trump to interpret China's export controls as "an economic declaration of war against the United States and a slap in the face to President Trump."
"China has fired a loaded gun at the American economy, seeking to cut off critical minerals used to make the semiconductors that power the American military, economy, and devices we use every day including cars, phones, computers, and TVs," Moolenaar said. "Every American will be negatively affected by China’s action, and that’s why we must address America’s vulnerabilities and build our own leverage against China."
To strike back forcefully, Moolenaar suggested passing a law he sponsored that he said would "end preferential trade treatment for China, build a resilient resource reserve of critical minerals, secure American research and campuses from Chinese influence, and strangle China’s technology sector with export controls instead of selling it advanced chips."
Moolenaar also emphasized steps he recommended back in September that he claimed Trump could take to "create real leverage with China" in the face of its stranglehold on rare earths.
Those included "restricting or suspending Chinese airline landing rights in the US," "reviewing export control policies governing the sale of commercial aircraft, parts, and maintenance services to China," and "restricting outbound investment in China’s aviation sector in coordination with key allies."
"These steps would send a clear message to Beijing that it cannot choke off critical supplies to our defense industries without consequences to its own strategic sectors," Moolenaar wrote in his September letter to Trump. "By acting together, the US and its allies can strengthen our resilience, reinforce solidarity, and create real leverage with China."
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