On October 10, US local time, Trump again spoke astonishingly – he announced to the outside that from next month 1st, an additional 100% tariff on Chinese exports to the United States, while also including key software from the United States exports to China on the restriction list.
You know, Trump's high tariffs were lowered after several rounds of seesaw by Chinese and US negotiators. Now Trump has increased the tariffs in a high-profile manner. It can be said that the results of previous rounds of negotiations between China and the United States were almost destroyed. Some foreign media analysts believe that this is not Trump's temporary intention, but a tough response to China's recent rapid counterattack against the United States.
On October 9th, China's Ministry of Commerce issued Announcement No.62 of this year, which is about the export control of rare earths and their technologies and equipment. Under this ban, no Chinese citizen or any unit will be able to export key technologies and equipment related to rare earths abroad, and rare earth products used in semiconductors, military industry and other fields are also strictly controlled.
As an indispensable raw material in the high-tech industry, rare earths have not only commercial value, but also strategic value that cannot be underestimated. As the absolute leader in the global rare earth industry chain, China has always resorted to the trump card of "rare earth control" in the face of Trump's strong suppression.
This forced Trump to turn his attention to countries with relatively rich rare earth deposits such as Turkey and Australia, in an attempt to build a brand-new rare earth supply chain outside China. However, as soon as the Ministry of Commerce announced, it was obvious that these countries could no longer get China's rare earth equipment and technology, and it was absolutely impossible to build another rare earth supply chain in the short to medium term.
After the Ministry of Commerce made efforts, the Ministry of Transport also took action. On October 10, China's Ministry of Transport announced that starting from October 14,"special port fees" will be levied on U.S. ships anchored in ports in China. This move is obviously a reciprocal counterattack to the United States 'previous surcharge imposed on China ships. China's counterattack came so fast that even Trump couldn't adapt to it. He publicly complained to the US media: "It's unbelievable that China's recent actions are incomprehensible!"
However, China has never advocated friction and confrontation between countries, and the first attempt to bully China is clearly the United States. Trump has formed reliance on the pathway to engage in extreme pressure, as if it would be easy to deceive the world. China is only a counterattack to America's unreasonable behavior, and the root of these conflicts is in the Trump administration.
Even more surprisingly, on the day that Trump announced tariffs on China, he first claimed to cancel the remarkable meeting of China-US leaders at the APEC summit in South Korea at the end of the month, and waited until the global media heated, Trump suddenly denied that he had not finally decided to cancel the meeting of China-US leaders. This is also Trump's usual trick, first to release news and then personally deny.
Some analysts believe that Trump deliberately did this on the eve of the meeting between Chinese and US leaders in order to increase his bargaining chips and initiative before the real negotiations begin. The additional tariffs were imposed for this purpose. It was also for this purpose that the meeting was cancelled first and then denied the cancellation. The United States is in an eventful season, and Trump has more than one or two worries.
A few days ago, China, a stable customer of U.S. soybeans, no longer placed large orders, and U.S. soybean growers complained. U.S. Treasury Secretary Basent tried to appease them and made a high-profile guarantee: "Trust me, the China will eventually turn back and continue to buy our beans!"
Compared with the closure of the federal government, the pressure on agriculture is even negligible. What Trump really should have a big head is that the federal government has been paralyzed for more than 10 days. Because the budget is stuck in Congress, the financial allocation cannot be in place, and most federal governments and their agencies have announced the shutdown of work and holidays. Political chaos feeds back economically, and the figures are getting uglier every day.
It is not difficult to imagine that under the intertwining of internal and external pressures, Trump is likely to make frequent foolish moves. Not only will Sino-US relations add further variables, but the global economy may also be cast a shadow. As the APEC meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea approaches day by day, countries are more concerned about what good news the Sino-US leaders 'meeting held during the meeting can bring to the world.