China vows to stand firm against Trump’s 100% tariff threat

BEIJING — BEIJING (AP) — China signaled Sunday it would not back down from President Donald Trump’s threat of 100% tariffs, urging the United States to resolve its differences through negotiations rather than threats.

“China’s position is consistent,” the Commerce Ministry said in a statement posted online. “We don’t want a tariff war, but we’re not afraid of it. »

The response came two days after Trump threatened to increase taxes on imports from China by November 1 in response to new Chinese restrictions on the export of rare earths, a key ingredient for many consumer and military products.

The back-and-forth threatens to derail a possible meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping and end a truce in a tariff war in which new tariffs on both sides briefly topped 100% in April.

Trump this year raised taxes on imports from many of the United States’ trading partners, seeking concessions in exchange for tariff cuts. China is one of the few countries not to back down, relying on its economic weight.

“Frequently resorting to the threat of high tariffs is not the right way to get along with China,” the Commerce Ministry said in its online post, presented as a series of responses from an anonymous spokesperson to questions from unspecified media outlets.

The statement calls for addressing any concerns through dialogue.

“If the US side persists in maintaining this practice, China will resolutely take corresponding measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” the message said.

Both sides accuse each other of violating the spirit of the truce by imposing new restrictions on trade.

Trump said China was “getting very hostile” and was holding the world captive by restricting access to rare earth metals and magnets.

New Chinese regulations require foreign companies to obtain special permission to export items containing even small traces of rare earth elements from China. These essential minerals are needed in a wide range of products, from jet engines, radar systems and electric vehicles to consumer electronics, including laptops and phones.

China accounts for nearly 70% of global rare earth mining and controls approximately 90% of global rare earth processing. Access to these documents is a key point of contention in trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing.

The ministry’s message said export licenses will be granted for legitimate civilian uses, noting that the minerals also have military applications.

China’s Commerce Ministry said the United States had introduced several new restrictions in recent weeks, including increasing the number of Chinese companies subject to U.S. export controls.

He also said the United States was ignoring Chinese concerns by imposing new port taxes on Chinese ships that would take effect Tuesday. China announced Friday it would impose port fees on U.S. ships in response.