US-China trade war reignites
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US-China trade war reignites
President Trump announced Friday he will raise tariffs on China in response to a move from Beijing to tighten its control over certain critical minerals and rare earth elements.
© AP
Trump announced on Truth Social that he would impose a tariff of 100 percent on Chinese goods beginning Nov. 1 or sooner. Those tariffs will supersede existing duties already in place on Chinese goods.
The president said his administration would also place export controls “on any and all critical software.”
“It is impossible to believe that China would have taken such an action, but they have, and the rest is History,” Trump posted.
China announced this week that foreign entities must obtain a license in order to export any products containing more than 0.1 percent of rare earths that are either sourced in China or manufactured using the country’s extraction process.
China controls roughly 70 percent of the world’s rare metals and earths.
Rare earths and critical minerals are used in numerous products, including cars, semiconductors and electronics like laptops.
Trump in his Truth Social post called China’s move “absolutely unheard of in International Trade, and a moral disgrace in dealing with other Nations.”
