Advantage Beijing in latest US-China spat

On Oct 10, Mr Trump shattered a fragile tariff truce between the world's two largest economies when he announced 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods on top of levies of about 57 per cent already in place. The provocation was China's decision a day earlier to further restrict the export of rare earth metals, indispensable to the high-tech economy.

- Bhagyashree Garekar US Bureau Chief

Mr Trump also said he saw "no reason" to continue with his planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea at the month's end. He refrained from cancelling it outright, however, leaving open the possibility of a meeting during his end-October tour to Asia that covers Malaysia, South Korea and Japan.

There has been no reaction from China thus far to Mr Trump's announcements.

Reacting to Beijing's new curbs on rare earth exports announced on Oct 9, Mr Trump said China had taken an "extraordinarily aggressive position on trade". He vowed to retaliate with "large-scale export controls on virtually every product they make", effective Nov 1, as well as on "any and all critical software".

Experts warned that the stand-off could severely damage both economies, with key US industries like automobile and defence production grinding to a virtual halt within weeks if China chooses to cut off supplies of rare earth metals.

The escalation will also have rolling repercussions for global supply chains, including those powering the booming artificial intelligence (AI) sector.

"Our relationship with China over the past six months has been a very good one, thereby making this move on trade an even more surprising one," Mr Trump said in a long Truth Social post that reflected his unhappiness with Beijing's rare earth leverage.

Characteristicly, the US President accused China of pursuing a sinister design by cultivating a monopoly in rare earths. "I have always felt that they've been lying in wait, and now, as usual, I have been proven right!" he wrote.