'Impossible to believe...': Trump slaps 100% tariff on China after Beijing's move to limit rare earth mineral shipments

US President Donald Trump on Fri (Oct 10) revealed that China has decided to impose sweeping export controls on nearly every product it manufactures, as well as on some items not produced domestically, starting 1 November, 2025. Expressing his shock over the decision by the Chinese, Trump, in a reciprocal action declared that the US will impose a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese goods on top of existing tariffs starting Nov 1. Trump opined that the aggressive stance by China affects all countries worldwide without exception, marking a highly unusual and controversial approach in international trade relations. Additionally, the US will enforce export controls targeting critical software to safeguard its technological interests, Trump said. This marks a significant escalation between two global economic powers and signals a new era of heightened trade tensions even as China and the US had signalled a green light over trade talks last month.

Before announcing these sweeping tariffs, Trump in a post on Truth Social accused China of taking a “sinister and hostile” step, warning that he could respond with a “massive increase of tariffs” on Chinese goods entering the United States. He said “some very strange things are happening in China”, accusing Beijing of becoming “very hostile” by sending letters to countries around the world announcing plans to impose export controls on critical materials used in global manufacturing. “Nobody has ever seen anything like this,” Trump wrote, adding that such a move would “clog the markets, and make life difficult for virtually every country in the world, especially for China.”