President Donald Trump on Friday said he will set a 100 percent tariff on Chinese goods starting on Nov. 1 and will “impose Export Controls on any and all critical software.”
Trump’s announcement on social media came after he shared a post earlier in the day threatening “massive” new tariffs on China and hinted he might cancel an upcoming summit meeting with President Xi Jinping in response to a move by Beijing earlier this week to restrict exports of rare earth magnets and raw materials.
“This was a real surprise, not only to me, but to all the Leaders of the Free World,” Trump said in a lengthy morning post on Truth Social. “I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so.”
The 100 percent duty, which Trump said could come “sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China,” would re-establish what was effectively an embargo on Chinese goods in the spring. The two countries reached a detente after negotiations in late May, but kept tariffs at a level much higher than before. The U.S. currently imposes duties averaging about 55 percent on Chinese goods. That includes a 10 percent reciprocal rate, a 20 percent duty linked to U.S. concerns about fentanyl trafficking and additional tariffs imposed during Trump’s first term.
