US President Donald Trump announced an additional 100 percent tariff on China Friday and threatened to cancel a summit with Xi Jinping, reigniting his trade war with Beijing in a row over export curbs on rare earth minerals. Trump said the extra levies, plus US export controls on "any and all critical software," would come into effect from November 1 in retaliation for what he called Beijing's "extraordinarily aggressive" moves. "It is impossible to believe that China would have taken such an action, but they have, and the rest is History," he said on Truth Social.
China's countermeasures against the U.S. additional port fees on Chinese ships are "legitimate defense" actions aimed at maintaining a fair competition environment in the international shipping and shipbuilding markets, the Ministry of Commerce said Friday. "The U.S. move is a typical unilateralist action of apparent discriminatory nature, which severely harms the interests of Chinese companies," a ministry spokesperson said in an online statement. To safeguard the interests of domestic industries, Chinese authorities will charge special port fees on ships with U.S. affiliations, including those flying the U.S. flag, built in the United States, or owned, controlled, or operated by U.S. companies, in accordance with China's international maritime regulations, the spokesperson said. These countermeasures are set to take effect simultaneously with the U.S. additional port fees on Chinese ships on Oct. 14. China urges the U.S. side to correct its wrongdoings and work with China to find a solution through equal-footed consultation and cooperation, the spokesperson added.
Trump had threatened the tariffs hours earlier in a lengthy surprise post on his Truth Social network that said China had sent letters to countries around the world detailing export controls on rare earth minerals. Rare earth elements are critical to manufacturing everything from smartphones and electric vehicles to military hardware and renewable energy technology. China dominates global production and processing of these materials. "There is no way that China should be allowed to hold the World 'captive,'" Trump wrote, describing China's stance as "very hostile".
“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 had written. He also said that China's move was even more surprising since the US' relationship with the country has been a “very good one” over the past six months. The US President threatened to use America's “monopoly positions” against China as well.
Newsinc24 Team





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