Trump threatens additional 100% tariff on 'aggressive' China

Donald Trump has announced the US will impose an additional 100% tariff on China imports, accusing it of taking an "extraordinarily aggressive position" on trade.

In a post to his Truth Social platform on Friday, the US president said Beijing had sent an "extremely hostile letter to the world" and imposed "large-scale export controls on virtually every product they make". Mr Trump, who warned the additional tariffs would start on 1 November, said the US would also impose export controls on all critical software to China.

The president added that he was imposing the tariffs because of export controls placed on rare earths by China. He wrote: "Based on the fact that China has taken this unprecedented position, and speaking only for the USA, and not other nations who were similarly threatened, 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.

"It is impossible to believe that China would have taken such an action, but they have, and the rest is history. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Mr Trump said earlier on Friday that there "seems to be no reason" to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in a scheduled meeting as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea at the end of this month.

He had posted: "I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems no reason to do so." Read more:China tightens control of global rare earth supplyThree things you may have missed from China this week The trip was scheduled to include a stop in Malaysia, which is hosting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit, a stop in Japan and then the stop to South Korea, where Mr Trump would meet Mr Xi ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Mr Trump added: "There are many other countermeasures that are, likewise, under serious consideration." The move signalled the biggest rupture in relations in six months between Beijing and Washington - the world's biggest factory and its biggest consumer.

It also threatens to escalate tensions between the two countries, prompting fears over the stability of the global economy. Friday was Wall Street's worst day since April, with the S&P 500 falling 2.7%, owing to fears about US-China relations.

China had restricted access to rare earths ahead of the meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi. Under the restrictions, Beijing would require foreign companies to get special approval for shipping the metallic elements abroad..