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US President Donald Trump has announced new 100% tariffs on all Chinese goods, in addition to already existing tariffs on Beijing, after China placed export controls on rare earths.

The US president claimed the tariffs, which will go into effect on November 1 “or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China” were reciprocal.

What did Trump say about the new tariffs?

The US president also plans to impose export controls on “any and all critical software.”

“It has just been learned that China has 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,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

“It is absolutely unheard of in international trade, and a moral disgrace in dealing with other Nations,” Trump added.

Trump then announced the new punitive measures in retaliation. The new 100% tariffs come on top of 30% US duties which were already in place on Chinese imports, summing up to a whopping 130% tariff rate on Chinese goods. 

What does the imposition of new tariffs mean for US-Chinese relations?

The new tariffs threaten to restart a trade war first launched earlier this year shortly after Trump took office, with both nations exchanging exponentially high tariffs which were later paused after several rounds of negotiations.

Earlier on Friday, Trump threatened to cancel a meeting planned with Chinese President Xi Jinping in nearly three weeks in South Korea.

The US president had said there was no reason to hold the meeting after China announced its dramatic expansion of its rare earth element export controls.

On Friday evening however, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he has not cancelled the meeting.

“No I haven’t canceled but I don’t know that we’re gonna have it,” he said. “But I’m gonna be there regardless so I would assume we might have it.”

Beijing dominates the market for rare earths, which are essential for tech manufacturing.   

The meeting between Trump and Xi was announced by Trump but never confirmed by China.

Edited by: Wesley Dockery