Trump’s Stand Against Chinese Export Moves

President Donald Trump halted plans for a summit with President Xi Jinping following China’s recent escalation in export restrictions on rare earth minerals.

“Some very strange things are happening in China!” Trump posted on Truth Social. “They are becoming very hostile, and sending letters to Countries throughout the World, that they want to impose Export Controls on each and every element of production having to do with Rare Earths, and virtually anything else they can think of, even if it’s not manufactured in China.”

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” Trump added.

“One of the Policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America. There are many other countermeasures that are, likewise, under serious consideration.”

Trump described the past six months of U.S.-China ties as “very good” and labeled the export curbs as “surprising.”

“I have always felt that they’ve been lying in wait, and now, as usual, I have been proven right!” he added.

Officials had floated a potential Trump-Xi encounter at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering in South Korea later this month, but “now there seems to be no reason to do so,” he stated.

China’s Grip on Rare Earth Supplies

China has built a commanding role in rare earth minerals and magnets over recent decades, now wielding that influence—key for global electronics—as a tool in international disputes.

“There is no way that China should be allowed to hold the World ‘captive,’ but that seems to have been their plan for quite some time, starting with the ‘Magnets’ and, other Elements that they have quietly amassed into somewhat of a Monopoly position, a rather sinister and hostile move, to say the least,” Trump added.

The planet’s top two economies remain entangled in ongoing trade talks, exchanging retaliatory tariffs.

On Thursday, China extended export limits to five more rare earth metals—holmium, erbium, thulium, europium, and ytterbium—building on seven others curbed in April.

Beijing also imposed controls on rare earth refining technology.

China attributed the measures to national security. “Rare-earth-related items have dual-use properties for both civilian and military applications. Implementing export controls on them is an international practice,” a Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said.

These metals play vital roles in consumer products like electric vehicles, home appliances, lithium batteries, and camera lenses, as well as in U.S. military systems.

Rare earths also support semiconductor production essential for AI advancements.

China extracts around 60 percent of global rare earth minerals and refines nearly 90 percent as of 2024, per the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The Trump administration pours resources into expanding U.S. rare earth extraction and processing to shield American workers from reliance on Chinese supplies.

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