US President Donald Trump has announced plans to impose an additional 100% tariff on imports from China from next month, escalating economic tensions between the world’s two largest economies. The move follows Beijing’s decision to tighten export controls on rare earth elements, a vital group of materials used in electric vehicles, smartphones, and other advanced technologies.

"Some very strange things are happening in China!" Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social account on October 10, adding "They are becoming very hostile."

The US president later added that China had "taken an extraordinarily aggressive position on Trade in sending an extremely hostile letter to the World, stating that they were going to, effective November 1st, 2025, impose large scale Export Controls on virtually every product they make, and some not even made by them."

Washington is also preparing to introduce export restrictions on certain critical software, marking a further deterioration in the fragile trade truce reached earlier this year. Financial markets reacted sharply to the prospect of renewed confrontation, with the S&P 500 closing 2.7% lower, its steepest single-day decline since April, multiple US sources have reported.

China remains the dominant global producer of rare earths and other key minerals essential to manufacturing and defence industries. Previous curbs on such exports, introduced after earlier US tariff hikes, prompted widespread disruption for American firms reliant on Chinese materials.

In a parallel move, according to the BBC, Beijing has launched an antitrust investigation into the US technology company Qualcomm, potentially jeopardising its planned acquisition of another chipmaker. China has also indicated it will begin levying new port fees on vessels with links to US ownership or operations.

The latest escalation threatens to derail planned trade discussions between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who had been expected to meet later this month at a summit in South Korea. Recent negotiations between the two sides have focused on semiconductor exports, agricultural trade, and the future of platforms such as TikTok.

Despite earlier progress towards easing tariffs, under which US goods entering China currently face a 10% levy and Chinese exports to the US a 30% surcharge, the prospect of further duties and export controls underscores the fragility of US-China relations.