Xi loves me, Xi loves me not: Now Trump sees 'no reason' to meet Chinese prez, threatens new tariffs

US President Donald Trump threatened a "massive increase" of tariffs on goods from China, citing recent "hostile" export controls on rare-earth minerals, and said he saw "no reason" to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"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," Trump posted Friday on social media.

The President added that one countermeasure the US is considering "is a massive increase of tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America," adding that "there are many other countermeasures that are, likewise, under serious consideration."


The announcement puts in doubt not only the agenda for Trump's planned trip to Asia, which included a meeting with Xi later this month at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, but also the future of negotiations over China's refusal to purchase US soybeans, which has hammered American farmers.

Stocks reversed earlier gains, the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 449 points, or 1% the S&P 500 falling more than 1.5% while the Nasdaq 100 fell as much as 2.4%, the most since April 30.

Soybean Futures Extend Losses
Soybean futures extended losses on Friday after Trump's post portended fresh trade tensions between the world's two largest economies. Chicago soybean futures fell as much as 1.9% to $10.0275 a bushel, hitting session lows after the posts. The intraday decline is the biggest since July 7.

The post follows a series of moves by both the US and China to potentially curb flows of technology and materials between the countries -all ahead of the presidents' planned meeting in Asia later this month.

In the most recent action, China slapped new port fees on US ships and started an antitrust investigation into Qualcomm Inc. - following fresh efforts to restrict the flow of rare-earth materials needed for numerous consumer products.

China this week required that overseas exporters of items that use even traces of certain rare earths to obtain an export licence, according to the Ministry of Commerce, citing national-security concerns. Some equipment and technology for processing rare earths and making magnets will also be subject to controls, the ministry said in a separate release.

While not specifically outlining the US's next steps, Trump said he would be "forced" to "financially counter their move" from the Chinese letter he cited, noting: "For every Element that they have been able to monopolize, we have two."

Trump's comments mark an abrupt change in tone even from Thursday, when he expressed optimism that he could convince Xi to end China's moratorium on US soybean buys and said of the Chinese leader, "he's got things that he wants to discuss with me, and I have things that I want to discuss with him."

Tensions have fluctuated for months between the US and China as the two sides have jockeyed for leverage across a range of issues up for negotiation, including tariffs, countering fentanyl flows, soybeans, export controls, and the fate of Chinese-owned social media giant TikTok's US operations.

The latest trade truce between the economies suspended elevated US duties on China until November.