🔗 Share this article

Donald Trump’s newest warning to enforce an additional 100% tariff on items imported from China has been labeled a “classic case” of United States’ contradictory behavior, according to the China’s leadership.

A official from China’s Commerce Ministry additionally remarked that China could enact its own unrevealed “countermeasures” if the US President carries out his pledge, adding that the country was “unafraid” of a looming trade war.

Last Friday, Trump responded at Beijing’s move to strengthen its policies for foreign shipments of rare earth minerals, accusing China of “adopting a confrontational stance” and attempting to hold the global community “under its control”.

He also vowed to cancel a scheduled summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, which was arranged for a meeting in Seoul later this month.

Trump’s comments on that day rattled global markets, with the S&P 500 falling by 2.7%, marking its steepest fall since earlier this year.

These statements renewed apprehensions of a commercial dispute between the US and China.

This past spring, the two sides had consented to eliminate significant levies on each other’s goods, which had created the possibility of commerce ceasing between the economic powers.

This left, US tariffs on products from China subject to an added thirty percent tariff compared with the year’s onset, while items from the United States entering the country are subject to a ten percent duty.

China’s latest remarks – published by the Ministry of Commerce in the form of official answers to media inquiries – echoed rhetoric from the zenith of the latest commercial tensions.

The remarks condemned American limits on exports on chips and semi-conductors while justifying the country’s own restrictions on exports on rare earths as “normal actions” to safeguard state interests and that of all nations.

Their representative said that for “an extended period”, the US had “overstretched the concept of state security, exploited overseas sale restrictions and “adopted discriminatory practices against Beijing.

“Turning to” tariff threats is not the correct approach to interact with Beijing,” the spokesperson stated.

“China’s position on a import duty dispute has always been steady: we do not want one, but we are unafraid of one.”

The previous week, China declared it was strengthening foreign shipment restrictions on rare earth minerals and additional substances essential to advanced tech manufacturing.

The action was viewed as a significant step, as the state refines about ninety percent of the planet’s critical minerals, which are used in items such as photovoltaic modules and smartphones.

The recent comments from both governments are being viewed by analysts as a strategy of bolstering negotiating stances ahead of upcoming negotiations.

It is unclear whether a summit between Donald Trump and President Xi, planned at a high-level meeting in Seoul later this month, will go ahead.