While US President Trump is seeking, at least in public, to de-escalate trade tensions with China ahead of his proposed meeting with President Xi Jinping at the end of the month, the underlying conflict is intensifying and extending.
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping [AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, Alexandr Demyanchuk]
The trade war jumped back into the headlines last week when Trump threatened an additional 100 percent tariff on all Chinese goods entering the US in response to Beijing’s announcement that it would introduce export controls on rare earths.
The Chinese controls are modelled on the global restrictions the US introduced under the Biden administration on the use of its computer chips and chip technology.
China processes about 90 percent of the rare earth minerals which form vital components in the manufacture of computer chips, heat-resistant magnets used…
