Trump Threatens Higher Tariffs on China Citing Restrictions on Rare-Earth Elements

President Trump at the White House. PHOTO: ALEX BRANDON/ASSOCIATED PRESS

By NEWS BLEND 360

Updated October 10, 2025, 1:22 PM EDT

President Trump threatened to increase tariffs and implement export controls on China, stating there was "no reason" to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping after Beijing's new restrictions on rare-earth materials heightened tensions between the two nations.

This week, China announced new export restrictions on rare earth minerals, essential components in products ranging from semiconductors to electric vehicles and jet fighters. China's dominance in processing these minerals grants it leverage over the U.S. and other countries.

"Depending on what China says about the hostile 'order' they have just issued, I will be forced, as President of the United States of America, to financially counter their move,"

Trump stated Friday in a post on Truth Social.

This development occurred before an anticipated meeting between Trump and Xi at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea—an encounter Trump suggested might not proceed.

"I was supposed to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so," he wrote.

The dispute over export controls mirrors a conflict that Washington and Beijing reportedly resolved months ago. Earlier this year, Beijing tightened export controls on the minerals, causing concern among U.S. industries. Trump's team responded with their own export controls on components where China depends on the U.S., and both sides eventually agreed to ease most of the restrictions.

Following China's extensive export controls, Trump said his team was ready to restrict Beijing's access to goods where the U.S. holds a dominant production share.

"For every element they have managed to monopolize, we have two. I never thought it would come to this, but perhaps, as with all things, the time has come," he wrote Friday.

Average U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods are around 57%, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and had exceeded 140% at the peak of Trump's trade disputes earlier this year.