Trump clarifies meeting with Xi not cancelled; says 'will see what happens' on China tariffs

When asked if the US might remove additional tariffs should China ease its export restrictions, Trump replied, “We’ll have to see what happens. That’s why I made it November 1.”

US President Donald Trump clarified on Friday (local time) that his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping has not been officially called off, despite earlier remarks suggesting otherwise. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said, “No, I haven’t cancelled. However, I’m not sure if we’ll have it. I’ll be there regardless. I would assume we might have it.”

He expressed astonishment at China’s sudden move to tighten export restrictions on rare earth elements, describing the policy shift as unexpected. “They hit the world with something. It was shocking. Out of the blue, they came up with this whole import-export concept, and nobody knew anything about it,” Trump said.

Earlier, Trump had commented there was “no reason to meet” with Xi following what he termed China’s “very hostile” actions. Beijing’s new export control measures, which require licenses for rare earth shipments, have prompted Washington to prepare retaliatory steps.

The US President announced that starting November 1, 2025, the United States will impose a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese products “over and above any tariff that they are currently paying.” He also confirmed that “export controls will be placed on all critical software” from the same date.

In a Truth Social post on Friday, Trump said, “Based on the fact that China has taken this unprecedented position, and speaking only for the USA, and not other Nations who were similarly threatened, starting November 1, 2025 (or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China), the United States of America will impose a Tariff of 100% on China, over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying. Also on November 1, we will impose Export Controls on any and all critical software.”

When asked if the US might remove additional tariffs should China ease its export restrictions, Trump replied, “We’ll have to see what happens. That’s why I made it November 1.”

He also indicated that export restrictions under consideration would go beyond software, potentially covering items like aircraft and their parts. “A lot more. We have aeroplanes and their parts. We were just surprised by China. I have a very good relationship with President Xi, and they did that. This is not something that I instigated. This was just a response to something that they did. And they didn’t really aim it at us. They aimed it at the whole world. I thought it was very, very bad,” Trump remarked.

Trump further accused China of taking “an extraordinarily aggressive position on trade,” saying the country had sent “an extremely hostile letter to the world.” He added, “It has just been learned that China has taken an extraordinarily aggressive position on Trade in sending an extremely hostile letter to the world, stating that they were going to, effective November 1, 2025, impose large scale Export Controls on virtually every product they make, and some not even made by them.”

He described the move as “absolutely unheard of in International Trade, and a moral disgrace in dealing with other Nations,” asserting that Beijing’s decision “was obviously a plan devised by them years ago.” Trump concluded, “It is impossible to believe that China would have taken such an action, but they have, and the rest is History. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

China’s new export restrictions cover a wide range of rare earth elements and processing technologies, expanding to overseas applications including military and semiconductor uses — a development that has drawn sharp criticism from Washington.

With inputs from ANI