Tensions between Washington and Beijing have reignited as China’s Ministry of Commerce issued a stern warning against the United States’ latest tariff threats, making clear that China will not yield to coercive tactics. The renewed confrontation marks another sharp turn in the already fraught economic relationship between the world’s two largest economies, one that could derail months of fragile diplomatic progress.

The dispute erupted after US President Donald Trump announced plans to impose a 100% tariff on Chinese imports in response to Beijing’s newly tightened restrictions on rare earth exports-critical materials used in smartphones, electric vehicles, semiconductors, and military equipment. China’s Ministry of Commerce responded on October 12 with an unambiguous statement: threats are not “the right way” to engage with China.

“China’s position on the trade war is consistent: we do not want it, but we are not afraid of it,” the ministry declared, signaling Beijing’s readiness to defend its interests even at the cost of further economic confrontation. The statement added that if Washington “insists on going the wrong way,” China “will surely take resolute measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests.”

The warning comes at a delicate moment for US-China relations. After years of back-and-forth tariffs and brief truces, both sides had appeared to be inching toward a renewed diplomatic understanding. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were expected to meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea later this month or in early November. That meeting was widely viewed as an opportunity to stabilize relations and........

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