President Trump says he might call off his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, citing Beijing’s “surprise” and “hostile” moves to restrict exports of rare earths and maintain its monopoly.
Mr. Trump, in a lengthy Truth Social post, also threatened a “massive increase” in U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports over the mineral restrictions, signaling a trade truce between the world’s largest economies is hanging by a thread.
“This was a real surprise, not only to me, but to all the Leaders of the Free World,” Mr. Trump wrote. “I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at [the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit], in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so.”
Wall Street stocks plummeted into negative territory after Mr. Trump’s post, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping over 300 points.
China announced on Thursday that it was clamping down on exports of rare earths, effective Dec. 1, a decision with major ramifications for military, semiconductor and electric vehicle industries around the world.
While the U.S. and other countries mine some of the minerals, China has an effective stranglehold on materials used in rare magnets and samarium, a key component of F-35 fighter jets and missiles.
Rare earths were a key talking point in trade talks earlier this year.
U.S. and Chinese officials came to an understanding about the exports as part of a series of summits to reduce sky-high tariffs imposed by both sides.
Now that the agreement seems to be in peril. Mr. Trump said China was engaging in “very strange” behavior.
“Dependent on what China says about the hostile ‘order’ that they have just put out, I will be forced, as President of the United States of America, to financially counter their move,” he wrote. “For every Element that they have been able to monopolize, we have two. I never thought it would come to this, but perhaps, as with all things, the time has come.”
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce outlined the restrictions in an order on Thursday that said it was necessary to “safeguard national security and interests.”
“Chinese citizens, legal persons and unincorporated organizations shall not provide any substantial assistance or support for overseas rare earth mining, smelting and separation, metal smelting, magnetic material manufacturing, and rare earth secondary resource recycling and utilization activities without permission,” the order said.
Mr. Trump was upset that China announced its restrictions on the same day he helped to finalize a peace-and-hostage deal between Hamas militants in Gaza and Israel. He said the timing might not have been coincidental.
Also, the confrontation over minerals coincided with U.S. efforts to get China to buy American soybeans.
China has refused to buy American soybeans this year, causing panic among growers who relied on the Asian superpower as a top purchaser. Instead, China has turned to sources in South America.
Mr. Trump had signaled he would negotiate more purchases, but his relationship with Mr. Xi is souring.
“Our relationship with China over the past six months has been a very good one, thereby making this move on Trade an even more surprising one,” Mr. Trump wrote. “I have always felt that they’ve been lying in wait, and now, as usual, I have been proven right!”
Mr. Trump isn’t the only one perplexed by China’s hardball tactics.
The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, said it was “concerned” by Beijing’s crackdown.
“We are studying the details,” Olof Gill, deputy chief spokesman for the commission, said at a press conference. “The commission expects China to act as a reliable partner and to ensure stable, predictable access to critical raw materials.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.