Trump keeps door open to Xi meeting, even after new 100% China tariff bomb
Trade escalation comes hours after the US leader appeared to cancel a meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping
US President Donald Trump on Friday signalled he may still meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping later this month on the sidelines of a multilateral forum in South Korea, even as he announced an additional tariff of 100 per cent on all Chinese imports, on top of levies already in place – doubling down on his tough trade stance.
“I haven’t cancelled, but I don’t know that we’re going to have it, but I’m going to be there regardless. So I would assume we might have it,” Trump told reporters in the White House when asked about his earlier remarks indicating that the meeting could be off.
He asserted that Beijing had “hit the world with something that really is not anything that people are going to do, and ... it was shocking”, referring to Beijing’s new curbs on rare-earth exports announced on Thursday.
Trump hinted that his latest tariff plan could still evolve, and that few understood “this whole import-export concept”.
“We’re gonna have to see what happens. That’s why I made it November 1. We’ll see what happens,” he said.
His comments came just hours after a social media post declaring that the US will impose a tariff of 100 per cent on China from November 1, “over and above any tariff that they are currently paying (or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China)”.
“Also on November 1st, we will impose Export Controls on any and all critical software”, the “America first” advocate added, blaming Beijing for “hostile” trade behaviour.
Trump described China’s actions as “absolutely unheard of in International Trade, and a moral disgrace in dealing with other nations”.
Previously in the day, he appeared to cancel a planned meeting with Xi and threatened “massive” tariffs.
Trump claimed that countries “throughout the world” had received “letters” from China expressing intentions to “impose export controls on each and every element of production having to do with rare earths, and virtually anything else they can think of, even if it’s not manufactured in China”.
In a lengthy social media post, Trump said he had been “surprised” by China’s move, which he warned would “clog markets” and hurt global production across industries.
“There is no way that China should be allowed to hold the world ‘captive’,” he wrote, calling the move “sinister and hostile”.
Trump said he was scheduled to meet Xi in two weeks at the Apec summit in South Korea, and that the talks may now be off.
“I was to meet President Xi in two weeks … but now there seems to be no reason to do so,” he said, warning that the US had “much stronger” monopoly positions, “far more reaching than China’s.”
“One of the policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America,” Trump added as he noted that “many other countermeasures” were “under serious consideration”.
China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But Wall Street reacted strongly to Trump’s threats, sending markets spiralling. The S&P 500 dropped 2.7 per cent in its worst day since April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.9 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite lost 3.6 per cent.
Beijing on Thursday widened its rare earth export curbs, adding five new elements and imposing stricter scrutiny on semiconductor users.
The world’s top supplier also restricted dozens of refining technologies and warned that foreign producers using Chinese materials will have to follow its rules.
Hours later, during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump emphasised the US market’s leverage over China, saying: “We import from China massive amounts, and maybe we’ll have to stop doing that.”
“I have things that I want to discuss with him. And one of the things is soybeans,” he added, recalling that he used to call Xi “every two weeks” during his first term to ensure Beijing stuck to their trade commitments.
He blamed his successor, Joe Biden, for failing to follow through on the phase one trade deal made with China in 2020 under Trump’s first term.
Ryan Hass, director of the Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Centre, reacted to Trump’s missive, noting that despite a “fair amount” of US-China activity, “under the surface” both countries have been “pursuing strategies to reduce dependence and insulate themselves from each other”.
He added that Xi has made self-reliance a “central feature of his national agenda” and that Beijing had grown “overconfident” about its leverage in the relationship over rare earths.
Hass expected more “twists and turns” before Trump and Xi arrive in South Korea, but did not “expect either side to make major concessions to the other”.
“If the two leaders end up meeting in Korea, it will be to set a course, direction and boundaries around future competition. Beijing will want to use the meeting to signal greater stability and predictability in the relationship. I would not bet on major deliverables,” he said.
Taisu Zhang, a professor of Law at Yale Law School, in a social media post, argued that it depends on “whether you think China is wise to impose export controls on rare earths technology, should largely mimic, whether you think the US is wise to impose export controls on chip technology”.
“If you think the former is shrewd whereas the latter is dumb, or vice versa, you’re likely being biased and logically inconsistent (especially when, as became obvious this summer, the technological research environment is deteriorating in both countries due to fiscal policy),” he said.
“The most likely medium-term outcome is still a trade detente between the two countries based on technological mutual dependence.”
Veda Partners, a Maryland-based firm that specialises in capital markets and federal policymaking, in a statement ruled out any breakthrough in the relations even if Xi and Trump end up meeting.
“At most, further discussion of the TikTok sale could be held, but the critical issues of rare earth access and commitments from China to buy US agricultural exports are unlikely to be announced in the wake of this meeting, if it occurs at all,” it read.
On Thursday, John Moolenaar, chairman of the hawkish House Select Committee on China, said China’s new restrictive measures on rare earths were an “economic declaration of war” against the US and “a slap in the face to President Trump amid his efforts to fight for a level playing field.”
The Michigan Republican expressed his readiness to work with the Trump administration to “show China that its belligerent trade actions will be met with serious efforts to protect the American people, secure our supply chains, and cut off the flow of US capital and technology into China”.
However, Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee blamed Trump for China’s tightening of rare earth exports in a statement on Friday.
“China’s export controls didn’t come ‘out of nowhere’,” said Gregory Meeks, ranking member of the panel, in a social media post.
“They are retaliation for Trump’s reckless trade war, where he used American export controls as negotiating leverage. Trump’s actions are resulting in expensive consequences for American families.”
The latest developments come as the world’s two largest economies now face a November 10 deadline to reach a comprehensive trade deal. Amid their negotiations, China has yet to purchase any US soybeans this season, diverting orders instead to Brazil and Argentina.
Last month, Trump spoke with his Chinese counterpart for a third time on the phone. The conversation, which was described by the US president as “very productive” and by Beijing as “pragmatic, positive and constructive”, paved the way for a US$14 billion TikTok deal.
Right before the call, Trump, in a social media post, called Xi a “gentleman” and announced that the two leaders would meet later this month. In another social media post last week, the “America first” leader expressed his displeasure over China’s snub to US soybeans this season.
China is one of the key buyers of US soybeans. Trump slammed Beijing’s latest move as a negotiation tactic.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has reignited his aggressive trade posture, first imposing a 20 per cent tariff on Chinese goods tied to fentanyl concerns, followed by additional duties that prompted Beijing to retaliate.
In April, China imposed a 25 per cent levy on American soybeans, further eroding their price competitiveness. At one point, the tit-for-tat tariffs escalated to over 100 per cent on both sides.
Since May, the two sides have been negotiating, reaching a framework on lowering some tariffs and select trade in rare earths and semiconductors.
Despite these developments, average tariffs on Chinese imports remain around 55 per cent, as Trump’s trade team has refused to remove the fentanyl-related levies and kept the talks focused on broader issues like state subsidies, overcapacity and export controls.
As trade frictions escalated on Friday, the Trump administration announced the success of efforts to stop the illegal online sale of certain Chinese unauthorised electronic equipment.
Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), posted on X, saying that the Communist Party of China is “engaged in a multi-prong effort to insert insecure devices into Americans’ homes & businesses”.
“This new FCC effort has resulted in millions of listings for prohibited Covered List devices – including certain Huawei and ZTE gear – being removed from leading e-commerce and online retailers,” he added.