China accuses US of ‘double standards’ after Trump threatens new 100% tariff

China on Sunday accused the United States of applying “double standards” after President Donald Trump threatened to impose a new 100 percent tariff on Chinese goods starting November 1.

“The relevant US statement is a typical example of ‘double standards,’” a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce said in an online statement.

Trump announced the potential tariff hike on Friday, calling it a response to what he described as China’s “extraordinarily aggressive” new export restrictions on rare-earth minerals — critical materials used in advanced manufacturing, including defense and technology.

Beijing defended its export controls as “legitimate,” saying they were aimed at safeguarding the “security and stability of global industrial and supply chains.” The ministry added that China remains open to “dialogue and exchanges on export controls with all countries.”

Trade tensions escalate

The U.S. president also warned he might cancel a planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month, further heightening tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

Beijing accused Washington of ramping up economic pressure since September, saying such actions have “severely harmed China’s interests and seriously undermined the atmosphere of the economic and trade talks between the two sides.”

“Threatening high tariffs at every turn is not the right approach to engaging with China,” the commerce ministry said.

‘China will not back down’

China urged the Trump administration to reverse what it called its “wrong practices,” warning that “willful threats of high tariffs” would not succeed.

“China’s position on the trade war is consistent: we do not want it, but we are not afraid of it,” the ministry said. “If the U.S. insists on going the wrong way, China will surely take resolute measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests.”