Media365
To justify his threat of a 100 per cent tariff on imports from China, US President Donald Trump framed China’s tightening of its export controls on rare earths as “hostile”. However, Beijing’s expanded rules are a direct and reasonable response to the Trump administration’s relentless campaign of ratcheting up restrictions on Chinese companies and exports.
On September 12, just two days before US-China trade talks in Madrid, Spain, the US blacklisted 23 Chinese institutions.
On September 25, less than a week after the phone call between Trump and President Xi Jinping, the White House announced plans to impose tariffs on kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and upholstered furniture, a move expected to hurt China, which exports these goods to the US.
On September 29, the Trump administration extended export controls to subsidiaries that are at least 50 per cent owned by companies on the US Entity List or Military End-User List. In one go, the US placed potentially tens of thousands of companies under American export controls.
On October 3, the US detailed its plans for a port fee on Chinese-listed vessels it had announced earlier this year, which were rolled out a week later. Then, on October 8, the US added 16 more Chinese firms to its entity list.
