WASHINGTON (Realist English). President Donald Trump said on Friday that the United States will impose 100% tariffs on all imports from China beginning November 1, marking one of the most aggressive trade measures in modern U.S. history.
The new duties will apply “over and above any tariff that they are currently paying,” Trump said, adding that Washington will also introduce export controls on “any and all critical software” on the same date.
The announcement came just hours after Trump threatened “a massive increase in tariffs” in response to China’s decision to restrict exports of rare earth minerals, which are vital to global industries including defense, electronics, and semiconductors.
“It has just been learned that China has taken an extraordinarily aggressive position on trade,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, accusing Beijing of “a moral disgrace in dealing with other nations.”
Trump said China’s new rules—which require foreign firms to obtain special licenses to export products containing even 0.1% of Chinese rare earths—amounted to an unprecedented act of economic coercion.
Beijing announced the measures on Thursday, saying they would take effect on December 1, effectively tightening its grip over the global rare earth supply, of which China controls about 70%.
Trump suggested he may cancel his planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea next month, calling the restrictions “hostile and premeditated.”
At present, nearly all Chinese imports to the U.S. already face steep tariffs — averaging 40%, according to Wells Fargo Economics and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The new 100% rate would double the effective tariff burden, dealing a severe blow to bilateral trade.
“Based on the fact that China has taken this unprecedented position… starting November 1, 2025, the United States of America will impose a tariff of 100% on China,” Trump wrote. “We will also impose export controls on critical software.”
The escalation follows Trump’s repeated pledges to “end America’s dependence on Chinese supply chains” and marks a dramatic expansion of his administration’s economic nationalism agenda, already characterized by sweeping tariffs on steel, aluminum, and consumer goods.
Analysts warn that the move could rattle global markets, drive up consumer prices, and further strain already fragile trade relations between the world’s two largest economies.
