Beijing accuses US of reigniting global trade war
China has accused the United States of escalating tensions after Donald Trump announced plans to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese goods, threatening to reignite a full-blown trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
Beijing’s commerce ministry said the US had “abused export controls” and “overstretched the concept of national security” by adding more Chinese companies to its trade blacklist since talks between officials in Madrid last month.
It warned that China “does not want to fight, but is not afraid to fight” and vowed to take “corresponding measures” to defend its interests if the US follows through with the new restrictions.
Rising tariffs and tit-for-tat measures
The sharp exchange follows Trump’s warning on Friday that his administration would introduce “large-scale export controls” on “virtually every product they make”, including all critical software, from November 1.
The statement came after Beijing unveiled new export limits on rare earth materials vital to global manufacturing.
China’s response suggested that it was prepared to retaliate. However, officials in Beijing later sought to calm markets by insisting the impact on supply chains would be “extremely limited” and that applications for civilian use of restricted materials would still be approved.
Later, Trump appeared to soften his tone, writing on Truth Social that “it will all be fine” and describing Chinese President Xi Jinping as “highly respected”. He said the US wanted to “help China, not hurt it”.
Strategic tensions ahead of summit
The flare-up comes ahead of a possible face-to-face meeting between Trump and Xi at a planned summit in South Korea later this month. While Trump initially cast doubt on whether the meeting would take place, he later said the two leaders would “probably” meet.
Analysts believe Xi may have introduced the rare earth export controls to test Trump’s reaction. Christopher Johnson, a former CIA China analyst, said Beijing was seeking to regain leverage.
“Xi may gain a boost in global perceptions of China’s standing in the showdown whilst also pocketing a successful strategic gambit with limited consequences,” he said.
Fragile truce under pressure
After years of tensions, the two sides had reached a truce in May, pausing the trade war that had seen tariffs of up to 145 per cent on US goods and 125 per cent on Chinese exports. But relations soured again after Washington tightened export rules to curb China’s access to advanced semiconductors and raised port fees for Chinese-built ships.
Beijing-based analyst Feng Chucheng said the latest escalation reflected China’s frustration with what it viewed as the “low credibility” of the Trump administration.
“From Xi’s perspective, these actions are substantive escalations,” he said, adding that China was using pressure tactics to force a “negotiation reset”.
Global fallout fears
The White House and the US Trade Representative declined to comment, but experts warned that further tariffs could disrupt global supply chains and damage multinational companies heavily invested in China.
Yanmei Xie, a senior associate fellow at the Mercator Institute for China Studies, said Beijing still held economic leverage.
“There are way more American companies producing in China than the other way around,” she said.
“Some of them, like Apple and Tesla, are the crown jewels of corporate America.”
While both sides insist they want stability, the exchange of threats has renewed fears that a fragile detente could collapse – reviving trade tensions that have already reshaped global markets once before.
