Threats are not “the right way” to get along with China, the Commerce Ministry has said.
Beijing has made it clear that it won’t yield to Washington’s latest tariff threats, urging the United States to seek a negotiated settlement instead of escalating tensions.
The warning came as part of an official statement released by China’s Ministry of Commerce on Sunday. The response followed US President Donald Trump’s plan to impose a 100% tariff on Chinese imports, citing Beijing’s new restrictions on rare earth exports – vital materials used in products from smartphones to fighter jets.
“China’s position on the trade war is consistent: we do not want it, but we are not afraid of it,” the ministry stated.
The renewed friction threatens to derail a possible meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, scheduled to take place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea in late October or early November.
The meeting had been viewed as an opportunity to revive dialogue between the world’s two largest economies. Trump has spent much of the year raising import duties on trading partners to force concessions. China, however, has refused to bend, relying on its economic leverage to counter US pressure.
“Willful threats of high tariffs are not the right way to get along with China,” the Commerce Ministry said. “If the US insists on going the wrong way, China will surely take resolute measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests,” it warned.
Both countries have accused each other of breaching the trade ceasefire by introducing new restrictions. Trump has accused China of “becoming very hostile,” claiming Beijing is “holding the world captive” by limiting access to rare earths.
Beijing’s new export rules now require foreign companies to obtain special approval before exporting goods containing even minimal amounts of Chinese-sourced rare earth elements.
In August, the US and China agreed to prolong a tariff truce after a trade war in which both sides imposed ever-increasing duties. Under the 90-day extension, US tariffs on Chinese imports were reduced from 145% to 30%, while China’s tariffs on American products dropped from 125% to 10%. The extension is set to expire in November.
Image credit: N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0
Trump appears to have made a grave error in engaging China with exorbitant tariffs which will backfire spectacularly to conspire against him at this critical juncture in time
China is resilient and will prevail while the fragility of the American economy will be exposed
Raising more highly the prospect of a military confrontation
Which would be another fatal mistake the military industrial complex completely dependent on rare earth elements
China has a massive lever in rare earth materials which are essential and which cannot be replaced overnight
Which China has taken decades to perfect and expand
Now proving to be a strategic pressure point exerting a stranglehold over the US – and by extension the world
China is holding all the cards on this depending on how they wish to play them
Trumps impetuous capricious short sighted nature in failing to think ahead as to recognize the ramifications and consequences of his actions will filter through in exposing him badly for which is all going to play out and the futileness of the situation exposed
China is in the drivers seat all the way on this while Trump has been relegated to sitting on a brat booster in the back seat
China ‘not afraid of trade war,’ accuses US of ‘double standard’ for rare earths retaliation
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/12/china-defends-rare-earth-export-curbs-as-legitimate-hits-back-at-us-tariffs-ahead-of-possible-trump-xi-meeting.html
Has the Orange man met his Waterloo and epitaph watershed moment
A bridge too far?
Has he painted himself into a corner from which he is unable to extricate himself
Has China got Trump over a barrel in a seriously uncompromising position
China is playing its cards close to its chest while the cyclops blinded is thrashing slam dancing around in the China shop breaking all the items
Are we looking at another TACO
Or more likely WACO
Interesting development on the world stage the ripple effects of which NZ is not immune
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFYp8QLkkrw&list=RDWFYp8QLkkrw&start_radio=1
By the way an excellent album
November the 1st doesn’t leave Trump much time.
Trump has threatened to flag meeting Xi on 31st Oct-1st of November.
But the meeting invariably will most probably go ahead.
If Trump wants to avoid triggering economic chaos, logic dictates he must cancel or delay the tariffs before the summit begins, not during or after.
Announcing a reversal before the summit calms markets, reassures allies, and sets a cooperative tone.
And allows Trump room to maneuver in gaining an honorable discharge to extricate himself from the quagmire he has cemented himself into.
JOHN MEARSHEIMER: NATO Picking a Fight w/Russia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNTSA4BS3ls
NATO is in for a humiliating defeat in Ukraine
Donors desperate for war on life support hemorrhaging badly and terminal
Just like Trump is in for a humiliating defeat in the outcome of a trade war with China
And Gaza?
The outcome in Gaza has been pre adjudicated
The hostages or crisis actors will be freed – theater
The IDF falls back to agreed lines
Hamas will not disarm on which everything hinges and the fragile peace dependent
Leading to a continuation of the war which is scripted being the original intention and course
Video: The West Versus China: Politics, Economy, Society
https://www.globalresearch.ca/video-the-west-versus-china-politics-economy-society/5902055