President Donald Trump announced on Friday that because of an "aggressive position" that China has suddenly taken--telling countries around the world that new "large scale export controls" are set to go into effect on November 1 for any products that use rare earth minerals--the United States will impose 100 percent tariffs on China. He addressed the situation in a post on his Truth Social account.
He wrote:
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 1st, 2025, impose large scale Export Controls on virtually every product they make, and some not even made by them. This affects ALL Countries, without exception, and was obviously a plan devised by them years ago. It is absolutely unheard of in International Trade, and a moral disgrace in dealing with other Nations.
Based on the fact that China has taken this unprecedented position, and speaking only for the U.S.A., and not other Nations who were similarly threatened, starting November 1st, 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 1st, we will impose Export Controls on any and all critical software.
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!
DONALD J. TRUMP
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
As my colleague Joe Cunningham wrote in Aug.,"[w]hen combined with other existing tariffs including 20% fentanyl-related duties, total effective U.S. tariff rates on Chinese goods average 54.9%."
Here's more information on China's announcement, and which products might be affected:
China announced this week that foreign entities must obtain a license in order to export any products containing more than 0.1 percent of rare earths that are either sourced in China or manufactured using the country’s extraction process. China controls roughly 70 percent of the world’s rare metals and earths.
Rare earths and critical minerals are used in numerous products, including cars, semiconductors and electronics like laptops.
U.S, Trade Representative, Ambassador, Jamieson Greer spoke with Fox News' Bret Baier on Friday, sharing the timeline of recent negotiations between the U.S. and China reaching back six months; Greer believes Xi's government purposely sprang this new trade control move just ahead of the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) forum.
In another part of the interview, Greer explained the purpose for Pres. Trump's "countervailing action" against Xi and China is pretty simple--"safeguard[ing] U.S. national and economic security": :
As I wrote earlier on Friday, the president made more than one announcement, with an Oval Office event announcing a new deal with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca on lowering drug prices for American consumers and those on Medicaid.
ALSO: New: Trump Announces Second Big Deal on Drug Pricing for Americans
During a media Q and A after the AstraZeneca announcement, a reporter asked Trump if in the wake of China's move and the tariffs announcement, he has cancelled his planned meeting with Xi. The upcoming APEC forum is set to take place in South Korea at the end of October
We'll see what happens - or does not happen - between the two leaders on Oct. 31.
As this is a developing story, RedState will provide updates as more information becomes available.
[Editor's Note: This article was edited for clarity post-publication.]
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