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Business
Trump Accuses China Of ‘Sinister’ Order Curbing Rare Earth Exports—Threatens ‘Massive’ Tariffs
ByTy Roush,Forbes Staff. Ty Roush is a breaking news reporter based in New York City.
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Oct 10, 2025, 11:35am EDT
Oct 10, 2025, 01:04pm EDT
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Topline
President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to impose “massive” tariffs on China after Chinese officials unveiled broader trade restrictions on rare earth minerals, deepening a trade rift with the U.S. ahead of expected talks between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month.
Trump Xi
Trump will hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month.
Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Key Facts
Trump, in a Truth Social post Friday, accused China of a “rather sinister and hostile move” for tightening export controls on rare earths and other materials and said the U.S. was preparing a “massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America.”
Trump said there now “seems to be no reason” to meet with Xi, with whom Trump was scheduled to hold talks in South Korea later this month.
China, which processes 90% of all rare earth metals, announced Thursday foreign companies are required to receive approval from the Chinese government to export products with rare earth minerals and explain their intended use, with similar restrictions on lithium batteries and some graphite exports.
Trump accused China of working to “clog” the markets and “make life difficult for virtually every Country in the World, especially for China,” adding the U.S. has been contacted by unspecified countries “who are extremely angry at this great Trade hostility, which came out of nowhere.”
Crucial Quote
“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 wrote.
Trump’s Tariff Threat Sparks Broader Market Sell-Off
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped about 340 points (0.7%) following Trump’s post, with further declines among the S&P 500 (down 1.7%) and Nasdaq (1.6%). Tech firms, many of which are reliant on Chinese rare earth exports, headlined losses for the Nasdaq, with declines Friday morning for AMD (5%), Qualcomm (4.5%), Broadcom (2.3%), Meta (2.3%), Tesla (2.2%), Apple (1.8%) and Nvidia (1.5%). Stocks linked to rare earth minerals, like MP Materials and USA Rare Earth, popped 15% and 19%, respectively.
Key Background
China’s latest announcement expands on export restrictions announced in April, resulting in widespread shortages on some critical elements used across tech industries. Export restrictions targeting more than two dozen American companies were temporarily paused by China in May, following a trade deal reached with the U.S. that restored trade for some rare earth minerals and magnets. In June, China said it would approve the export of rare earth minerals to the U.S. that “meet the conditions in accordance with the law” in exchange for the U.S. lifting its own trade restrictions. The Trump administration has moved to partially distance itself from relying on Chinese imports: The Defense Department announced in July it would acquire $400 million in MP Materials’ preferred stock, making the U.S. the largest shareholder in the company, which owns the only rare earth mine in the country.
Further Reading
Forbes
U.S. Becomes Largest Shareholder In MP Materials—Rare Earth Miner—To Counter China
By Sara Dorn
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