Beijing has said it was ready for a fight with the U.S. after President Donald Trump threatened to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods.
Newsweek has contacted Beijing’s embassy in Washington, D.C and the White House via email for comment.
Why It Matters
A statement by China’s Trade Ministry, echoed by the state newspaper the Global Times, is the latest salvo in a deepening trade war in which Trump has repeatedly imposed tariffs on Chinese goods. It adds to tensions between the countries ahead of a meeting which is expected to take place between the U.S. president and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping this month.
What To Know
China’s Ministry of Commerce took aim at Trump’s announcement that he would impose 100 percent tariffs on Chinese goods from November 1 following Beijing launching new controls on exports of the rare earths.
“China’s position on the trade war is consistent: we do not want it, but we are not afraid of it,” the ministry’s statement said.
Steve Tsang, director of SOAS University of London’s China Institute, told Newsweek Monday the statement showed that Beijing is no longer reticent in using its rare earths to assert itself.
China provides around 70 percent of the global supply of rare earth minerals which are critical for high-tech industries, including automobiles, defense and semiconductors.
The commerce ministry announced export restrictions on these rare earth items and from December 1, foreign entities must have a license to export products that contain more than 0.1 percent of the minerals sourced from that country.
The announcement also applied to products manufactured using Chinese extraction, refining, magnet-making or recycling technology.
This prompted Trump to post on Truth Social that Beijing had taken an “extraordinarily aggressive position on trade.”
In response, Trump from November 1, the U.S. would impose a tariff of 100 percent on China, over and above any duty that they are currently paying and will enact export controls on all critical software.
This move could upend trade between the countries, given that nearly every product imported into the U.S. from China already faces steep tariffs, ranging from 50 percent on steel and aluminum, to 7.5 percent on consumer goods.
Beijing took the brinkmanship even further, accusing the U.S. on Sunday of “willful threats of high tariffs” which it said was not the right approach to get along with China.
The trade ministry statement Sunday called on the U.S. to correct its “wrong practices.” It added that if the U.S. insisted “on going the wrong way, China will surely take resolute measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests.”
Tsang told Newsweek that he doubted Beijing intended to enforce all the new requirements announced.
Foreign entities are required to seek permission from China for export of items that use its rare earths, but permission will be granted to almost all of them, and Beijing is not going to make an issue with companies that do not seek permission unless and until its needs to make a point, he said.
If rolling back on statements is part of Trump’s approach, in China’s case, “it is all about implementation,” Tsang said. “It is not all about the trade war with the U.S., which may explain, in part, why Beijing was a bit surprised by Trump returning to a full-blown tariff war.”
“But since Xi cannot be wrong, it will match Trump’s threat and force Trump to do a ‘TACO’ [satirical slogan ‘Trump Always Chickens Out’], or do a deal when Xi and Trump meet,” Tsang added.
Chinese government newspaper the Global Times said in an op-ed that the ministry’s statement showed Beijing’s move for export control measures was a legitimate action by to refine its export control system.
It reiterated the ministry’s statement that the U.S. had “misused export controls, and adopted discriminatory practices toward China.”
Craig Singleton, senior China fellow at Foundation for Defense of Democracies told Newsweek that Beijing had deliberately avoided a full export ban, because by keeping approvals discretionary, China can throttle rare-earth and battery exports at will—a flexible pressure valve it can open or close depending on how negotiations unfold.
He said that Beijing is reminding Washington it still holds material cards—critical minerals, graphite, batteries—as both sides prepare for leader-level talks.
By acting now, Beijing is betting Trump wants a deal more than a fight. “If the White House hesitates to respond, Beijing will read that as validation that pressure works,” Singleton added.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump on Truth Social on October 11: “China has taken an extraordinarily aggressive position on trade in sending an extremely hostile letter to the World.
He added: “It is impossible to believe that China would have taken such an action, but they have, and the rest is history.”
China’s Trade Ministry in a statement on Sunday: “Willful threats of high tariffs are not the right way to get along with China. China’s position on the trade war is consistent: we do not want it, but we are not afraid of it. China urges the U.S. to promptly correct its wrong practices.”
Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute: “I doubt very much that Beijing intends to enforce all the new requirements announced.
He said Beijing: “Is no longer reticent in using the advantages it has in dealing with the USA and the rest of the world. Beijing also wanted to lay down the marker that China can and will assert its prerogative to require the rest of the world to play by Chinese rules.”
Craig Singleton, senior China fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies: “Beijing isn’t seeking calm—it’s locking in leverage…these measures are meant to be reversible, so Beijing can dial them down later as part of a deal or keep them in place if talks stall.”
What Happens Next
Trump and Xi are scheduled to meet at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea, although the U.S. president has suggested he would cancel the meeting.
However, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business Network that both sides “have substantially de-escalated,” and that the meeting would still be on.
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