China threatens the US with retaliation if Trump doesn't reverse the 100% tariff threat.

Hong Kong

If US President Donald Trump follows through on his pledge to impose new 100% tariffs on Chinese imports, Beijing has threatened to retaliate against Washington.

Following China's announcement of a number of export restrictions on rare earth minerals last week, Donald

On October 9, 2025, ships are berthed at the port's container terminal in Qingdao, in the eastern Shandong province of China. Getty Images/AFP.

 
Trump issued his most recent threat. Months of progress in trade negotiations could be derailed by the rising tensions.

In Beijing's initial remarks on the threat, a Ministry of Commerce spokesperson stated Sunday that "threatening high tariffs is not the right way to engage with China."

The spokesperson went on to say, "China will resolutely take corresponding measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests if the US continues to act unilaterally." "We hold the same stance against a tariff war: we do not want one, but we are not afraid of one. 

Fears of a rerun of the tit-for-tat tariff war in the spring, when levies on Chinese and American imports surged to about 145% and 120%, respectively, have caused stocks to plummet as a result of the swift escalation of trade tensions between the two biggest economies in the world. The ongoing trade negotiations between the two countries are also made more uncertain by it. A highly anticipated meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping was scheduled to take place in South Korea in two weeks, but Trump has raised doubts about the meeting's success due to the rare earths issue. With the ministry spokesperson calling on Washington to "promptly correct its wrong approach" and "preserve the hard-won progress in negotiations," Beijing is not showing any signs of giving up. 

The commerce ministry referred to the new rare earth regulations as a “legitimate move” and blamed Washington for the most recent escalation, citing the Trump administration's implementation of a number of new trade restrictions against China just two weeks after the most recent round of trade negotiations in Madrid in September.