US President Donald Trump on Monday hinted at imposing 200% tariffs on China if the country did not supply rare earth magnets, essential to the automotive, electronics and defense industries, to America.
While he heaped praise on China for “intelligently” taking control of the monopoly of magnets in the world, he also said that if the country refuses to provide them to the US, they could be dealt a huge economic blow.
“They have to give us magnets. If they don’t give us magnets, then we have to charge them (a) 200 percent tariff or something,” Trump said during a media interaction from the Oval Office at White House.
Trump also asserted that while the US and China shared a great relationship, Washington had more leverage over Beijing. “We have much bigger and better cards than they do…If I played those cards, that would destroy China. I’m not going to play those cards,” Trump said.
In April, China which holds a near-monopoly on magnets restricted exports of seven rare earths in retaliation for the sweeping US tariffs.
Two months later, Donald Trump announced a trade deal between the US and China as part of which rare earth minerals and magnets would be supplied to Washington.
While Trump did threaten 200% tariffs on China on withholding supply of magnets, he did not indicate that Beijing was actually planning on doing so.
Establishing the leverage China has on the world for identifying rare earths as a critical component, Trump also said that the powerful thing that the US has are airplane parts and Boeing jets.
Pointing out that 200 Chinese jets remained grounded due to the US not providing its important parts earlier, Trump said, “I sent them all of the parts so their planes can fly…I could have held them back. I didn’t do that because of the relationship I have. And they’re flying.”
Trump’s latest remarks on the US’s economic ties with China come days after US treasury secretary Scott Bessent defended the US’s move to not slap penalties on China for buying Russian oil, something Trump cited while threatening 50% tariffs on Indian imports earlier this month.
The US currently charges 30% duties on Chinese imports — 10% in base rate and 20% in fentanyl-related tariffs.
