U.S. President Donald Trump has announced plans to impose an additional 100% tariff on all Chinese imports, sharply intensifying trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. The new duties, set to take effect on November 1, would come on top of the existing 30% tariffs already levied on Chinese goods.
The move follows China’s decision to expand export controls on rare earth elements — materials essential for high-tech manufacturing — prompting what the U.S. President described as a “reciprocal” response. Trump indicated that the tariffs could take effect even earlier “depending on any further actions or changes taken by China.”
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump claimed, “It has just been learned that China has taken an extraordinarily aggressive position on trade… stating that they were going to, effective November 1st, 2025, impose large-scale export controls on virtually every product they make, and some not even made by them.”
He condemned China’s actions as “absolutely unheard of in international trade” and “a moral disgrace in dealing with other nations.”
If enacted, the new measures would raise the total tariff rate on Chinese goods to 130%. The administration is also reportedly preparing export restrictions on “any and all critical software,” further heightening trade frictions between the world’s two largest economies.
The announcement threatens to reignite a trade war that had cooled following negotiations earlier this year.
Earlier on Friday, Trump hinted he might cancel a planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, scheduled for later this month, in response to Beijing’s new export curbs. However, he later told reporters in the Oval Office that the meeting had not been officially canceled, saying, “No, I haven’t canceled, but I don’t know that we’re gonna have it… I’m gonna be there regardless, so I would assume we might have it.”
The proposed meeting, announced by Trump but not confirmed by Beijing, comes as China continues to dominate the global supply of rare earth elements — a strategic resource at the heart of modern technology manufacturing.
Source:Africa Publicity
