‘200% tariff if magnets are not given’—Trump’s warning to China

The tariff dispute between the United States and China is intensifying! This time, US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 200% tariff on China. He said that the United States must give more magnets, otherwise this tariff will be imposed on China. This news was reported by various international media outlets on Tuesday.

Trump said, ‘If China does not give us magnets, we will have to impose a 200% tariff on them or something like that.’ Such comments came amid the trade war between the two countries when China imposed restrictions on the supply of rare minerals and magnets. In April this year, the country included some rare mineral products and magnets on the list of export bans. Beijing took this step in response to the increase in US tariffs. Qatar-based media outlet Al Jazeera says that Beijing is very sensitive about rare mineral materials. In response to the US tariff hike last April, China imposed restrictions on exports of several rare earth minerals and magnets. China currently controls about 90 percent of the global magnet market. These materials are essential for many important products, including semiconductor chips, which are used in technology products such as smartphones.

Trump recently extended the deadline for tariffs on Chinese goods by another 90 days in an executive order, so that there would be more opportunities for negotiations between the two sides. Without this order, the tariff rate would have reached 145 percent. Earlier in May, the US and China reached an agreement that the tariff rate would be reduced from 125 percent to 10 percent and that the US would impose a 30 percent tariff.

In the context of the ongoing tariff dispute between the world's two largest economies, Trump's new threat seems to complicate the situation again.

Source: Al Jazeera, Reuters.