Donald Trump calls China’s rare earth move ‘hostile,’ threatens massive tariff hike on imports

US President Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump on Friday accused China of launching a “hostile” trade offensive by sending letters to countries around the world announcing plans to impose export controls on rare earth elements and other key materials.

In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Trump said Beijing’s actions could “clog the markets” and disrupt global trade, calling it “a rather sinister and hostile move.”

“They are becoming very hostile, and sending letters to countries throughout the world, that they want to impose Export Controls on each and every element of production having to do with Rare Earths, and virtually anything else they can think of, even if it’s not manufactured in China,” Trump wrote.

The US President said he had not spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping following the move, adding that their meeting at the upcoming APEC Summit “now seems to be no reason to do so.”

Trump warned that the United States was preparing a strong financial response to counter Beijing’s restrictions.

“One of the Policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America,” he said, adding that other countermeasures were also “under serious consideration.”

He further called China’s move “especially inappropriate,” noting it came on the same day he announced “peace in the Middle East,” and suggested the timing was meant to undermine global stability.

Beijing demands India's assurance

China has asked India to provide assurances that heavy rare earth magnets imported from Beijing will not be re-exported to the United States and will be used exclusively for domestic purposes, according to a report by the Economic Times (ET).

The report said Indian companies have already submitted end-user certificates confirming the materials won’t be used for manufacturing weapons, but China is seeking additional export control commitments similar to those under the Wassenaar Arrangement,  a multilateral pact aimed at promoting transparency in dual-use technologies.

While India is a member of the arrangement, China is not.

“China wants to ensure that the heavy rare earth magnets supplied to India do not reach the US,” an official told ET, adding that New Delhi has yet to accept the proposed condition.