Trump threatened to impose ‘massive’ tariffs on China

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the United States is considering imposing a “huge” increase in tariffs on China in the latest move amid the ongoing trade dispute between the two countries.

Trump wrote in a post on his platform, Truth Social, that China is telling other countries that it wants to impose controls on exports of rare earth metals, which are important components of advanced technologies ranging from semiconductors to smartphones.

“Some very strange things are happening in China! They have become very aggressive, sending messages to countries all over the world, wanting to impose export controls on every item of production related to rare earth elements, and anything else they can think of, even if it is not made in China,” the president wrote.

“No one has ever seen anything like this before, but it would basically ‘clog up’ the markets and make life difficult for almost every country in the world, especially for China,” Trump explained. “We have been approached by other countries that are very angry about this major trade hostility, which came out of nowhere.”

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In response to China’s move to impose export controls on rare earth elements, Trump said he would have to “financially confront their move.”

He explained, “One of the policies we are considering at this moment is the massive increase in customs duties on Chinese products coming to the United States of America.” “There are several other countermeasures that are also under serious consideration.”

Trump said the US relationship with China had been “very good” over the past six months, making the Chinese government’s move “even more surprising.”

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China is one of the major suppliers of rare earth elements in the world. (Florence law/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

He added that he felt China “was lurking, and now, as usual, I have been proven right!”

Trump continued: “There is no way to allow China to hold the world ‘captive,’ but that appears to have been their plan for some time, starting with ‘magnets’ and other items that they have fairly quietly amassed in a monopoly position, which is a rather sinister and aggressive move, to say the least.”

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Trump said he was considering imposing “huge tariffs” on Chinese goods in response to Xi’s move on rare earths. (Kevin LaMarque/File Photo)

“But the United States also has monopolistic positions, much stronger and far-reaching than China’s. I did not choose to use them, nor has there been any reason for me to do so – yet! The letter they sent is very long, detailing, with great privacy, every item they want to withhold from other countries. Things that were routine are no longer routine at all,” Trump wrote.

Trump said: “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,” noting that although the matter may be “painful,” it will ultimately be “a very good thing, in the end, for the United States of America.”

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Trump also said he intends to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in two weeks at the APEC summit in South Korea, but after China’s move “there appears to be no reason to do so.”