Donald Trump has warned he will impose export controls on “virtually every product” coming out of China as he threatens to reignite a trade war with Beijing. The US president announced the move on his Truth Social platform on Friday (October 10).
Mr Trump lashed out after Beijing placed restrictions on exports of its rare earths, which are critical for the manufacturing of everything from consumer electronics to jet engines. The escalating tensions between the world’s largest economies led to widespread falls on Wall Street, with roughly six out of every seven stocks within the S&P 500 dropping.
In his Truth Social salvo, Mr Trump accused China of taking an “extraordinarily aggressive position” on trade. He said Beijing had sent an “extremely hostile” letter to the world, which he said stated that from November 1 China would impose large scale export controls on virtually every product made by the country “and some not even made by them”.
The president, who announced sweeping tariffs on goods imports into the US earlier this year, fumed that the move would impact all countries, adding it was “absolutely unheard of” in international trade, and “a moral disgrace” in dealing with other nations.
Mr Trump said that in retaliation the US would impose 100% tariffs on China “over and above” any levy the country already pays as well as export controls on “any and all critical software” from November 1.
He ended his post: “It is impossible to believe China would have taken such an action, but they have, and the rest is History (sic). Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
