Why did China escalate trade hostilities with the US so abruptly last week?

China’s announcement of tighter global export controls on rare earths and products containing the merest traces of rare earths was provocative, and predictably triggered Donald Trump into threatening an additional 100 per cent tariff on all of China’s exports to the US, a prohibition of US exports to China of all critical software, and a potential ban on exports of aircraft parts.

China also announced new fees for US ships docking in its ports and an antitrust investigation of the US chipmaker with the biggest exposure to China, Qualcomm.

Donald Trump says the US could impose export controls on Boeing plane parts amid growing trade tensions with China.Credit: AP

China’s stated explanation for the decision to reignite hostilities, which had been dormant since the two countries agreed a trade truce in Geneva in May, is that it was a response to America’s introduction of new measures targeting China, including additions to its blacklist of Chinese companies and even tighter restrictions on China’s access to cutting-edge semiconductors.

This week, America will also start charging Chinese ships delivering exports to America hefty US port charges, so there are elements of “tit-for-tat” in China’s actions.

US Treasury’s Secretary Scott Bessent’s comments last week – after the US mounted a bail-out of Argentina, buying its sovereign debt and putting in place a $US20 billion currency swap line to support the embattled peso – wouldn’t have helped.

Bessent said Argentina’s president and Trump’s friend and ideological fellow traveller, Javier Milei, was “committed to getting China out” of Argentina.

China has in place an $US18 billion ($28 billion) swap line of its own for Argentina, which the US wants Argentina to truncate, and has been buying billions of........

© Brisbane Times