Washington – President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to place an additional 100 per cent tax on Chinese imports starting on November 1 or sooner, potentially escalating tariff rates close to levels that in April fanned fears of a global recession.

The president expressed frustration with new export controls placed on rare earth elements by China - and said on social media that“there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea.

Trump later told reporters he had not cancelled his meeting.“But I don't know that we're going to have it,” he said during an Oval Office appearance on another subject.“I'm going to be there regardless, so I would assume we might have it.”

Trump also suggested there may be time to ratchet down his steep new tariff threat.“We're going to have to see what happens. That's why I made it Nov. 1,” he said.

China's new restrictions

On Thursday, the Chinese government restricted access to rare earth minerals, requiring foreign companies to get special approval for shipping the metallic elements abroad. It also announced permitting requirements on exports of technologies used in the mining, smelting and recycling of rare earths, adding that any export requests for products used in military goods would be rejected.

On social media, Trump described the export controls as“shocking” and“out of the blue.” He said China is“becoming very hostile” and that it's holding the world“captive” by restricting access to the metals and magnets used in electronics, computer chips, lasers, jet engines and other technologies.

Trump said in a post that“starting November 1st, 2025 (or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China), the United States of America will impose a Tariff of 100% on China, over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying.” The president also said the US government would respond to China by putting its own export controls“on any and all critical software” from American firms.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment.

Trump is known for using threats as a tactic

The S&P 500 tumbled 2.7 per cent on worries about the rising tensions between the world's largest economies. It was the market's worst day since April when the president last bandied about import taxes this high. Still, the stock market closed before the president spelt out the terms of his threat.

Not only could the global trade war instigated by Trump be rekindled, but import taxes being heaped on top of the 30 per cent already being levied on Chinese goods could, by the administration's past statements, cause trade to break down between the US and China in ways that could cause growth worldwide to slump.

While Trump's wording was definitive, he is also famously known for backing down from threats. Earlier this year, some investors began engaging in what the Financial Times called the“TACO” trade, which stands for“Trump Always Chickens Out.”

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