Donald Trump’s tit-for-tat trade war with China over rare earth minerals could send prices for electric vehicles (EVs) and consumer electronics soaring.

On Friday, the US president announced a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese imports to America in retaliation for the communist country’s announcement of export controls on rare earths.

China produces more than 90 per cent of the world’s supply of processed rare earths, which are crucial in the manufacture of hi-tech items, from radars and jet engines to televisions, solar panels, EVs and bullets.

Rare earths are a set of 17 minerals, which comprise 15 silvery-white metals called lanthanides plus the elements scandium and yttrium.