The president said export controls on ‘critical software’ will also take effect on Nov. 1. Earlier, Trump also threatened to cancel a meeting with China’s Xi.
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on Friday said that the United States will impose an additional 100 percent tariffs on Chinese goods and export controls on critical software starting on Nov. 1.
Trump accused Beijing of adopting “aggressive” export controls on nearly all of its products, referring to the Chinese regime’s recent rule changes aimed at restricting shipments of rare earth elements.
In a new Truth Social post, Trump said that the United States “will impose a Tariff of 100% on China, over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying. Also on November 1st, we will impose Export Controls on any and all critical software.”
He warned that tariffs could be implemented sooner, depending on Beijing’s reaction. He also said China’s new export controls, which would affect all countries, appeared to be a strategy devised by Beijing years ago.
“It is impossible to believe that China would have taken such an action, but they have, and the rest is History,” he wrote.
During an Oval Office meeting on drug prices later that day, Trump was asked by reporters if he had canceled his planned meeting with Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping. Both leaders were expected to meet during Trump’s visit to South Korea during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit later this month.
“I don’t know if we’re going to have it, but I’m going to be there regardless, so I would assume we might have it,” Trump said.
He also noted that “a lot more” items could fall under U.S. export controls.
“We have airplanes, we have airplane parts,” he said. “They have a lot of Boeing planes, and they need parts and lots of things like that.”
The tariff announcement followed a lengthy post from Trump, in which he accused the Chinese regime of taking a hostile and unprecedented step by sending letters to countries worldwide to announce new export controls on rare earth elements and other key materials. He vowed to respond with countermeasures, including significant tariff hikes and other actions.
In the earlier post, Trump also signaled that he would call off his planned meeting with Xi.
“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.
Trump said Beijing’s move would clog the global markets and create serious challenges for nearly every country, including China.
He added that several countries voiced anger over Beijing’s “trade hostility,” a move that also surprised the United States, given the positive trade talks over the past six months.
“I have always felt that they’ve been lying in wait, and now, as usual, I have been proven right!” Trump said.
On Oct. 9, the Chinese communist regime expanded export controls on rare earth elements, barring foreign defense and semiconductor companies from accessing these critical metals.
Items containing more than 0.1 percent of rare earth ingredients sourced from China will require export licenses, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. The curbs are set to take effect on Dec. 1.
Rare earths, a group of 17 elements critical for products such as electric vehicles, military jets, and submarines, have become a key issue in the U.S.–China trade talks.
Decades of government subsidies and policy support have made China a dominant supplier of rare earths, with it controlling 61 percent of global extraction and 92 percent of refining production, according to the International Energy Agency.
By Emel Akan
