US President Donald Trump throughout a gathering with Lee Jae Myung, South Korea’s president, not pictured, within the Oval Workplace of the White Home in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025.
Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Photographs
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday stateside warned of steeper tariffs on China if exports of rare-earth magnets have been curbed, threatening a precarious commerce truce between the world’s two largest economies.
“They’ve to present us magnets, if they do not give us magnets, then we’ve got to cost them 200% tariffs or one thing,” Trump informed reporters after a gathering with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on the White Home on Monday.
Trump additionally stated that airplane elements have been a key leverage that Washington has to counter Beijing’s grip on uncommon earths: “200 of their planes have been unable to fly as a result of we weren’t giving them Boeing elements purposely as a result of they weren’t giving us magnets.”
Boeing has been working towards a deal to promote as many as 500 plane to China, with each side finalizing the main points comparable to jet fashions, varieties and supply schedules, Bloomberg reported, underscoring the position of airplane jets in a possible U.S.-China commerce deal.
Trump’s assertion comes at a time when China’s exports of rare-earth magnets have recovered to ranges seen earlier than Beijing imposed export curbs in April, in keeping with the most recent authorities knowledge. Magnets shipped to the U.S. surged greater than seven instances — 660% — in June from the prior month, with volumes rising 76% on month in July.
China dominates rare-earth magnet manufacturing, controlling about 90% of worldwide provide, and maintains an analogous grip over the refining of the minerals used to make them.
That dominance has given Beijing important leverage in its commerce talks with the Washington, because the U.S. depends closely on the rare-earth magnets for its giant manufacturing sector, notably automotive, electronics and renewable vitality.
Henry Wang, founder and president of the Middle for China & Globalization, a Beijing-based assume tank, downplayed Trump’s “informal” remarks, saying the true take a look at must be each side’ efforts in implementing their agreements.
“He is bluffing. He at all times talks huge on tariffs or potential punishment, however we should not get caught up within the rhetoric,” stated Wang, who additionally serves as a counselor for China’s state council.
In June, Washington and Beijing agreed on a commerce framework that included easing controls on Chinese language rare-earth exports in addition to a rollback of some American tech restrictions for shipments to China.
U.S. and China have agreed to decreasing tariffs on one another’s items to round 55% and 32%, respectively. {That a} non permanent truce is about to run out in mid-November.
China’s embassy within the U.S. didn’t reply to CNBC’s request for feedback.
Senior Chinese language commerce negotiator Li Chenggang is reportedly heading to Washington this week for conferences with U.S. Commerce Consultant Jamieson Greer and senior Treasury officers, the Wall Road Journal reported Tuesday.
Whether or not the commerce truce holds past its November deadline will hinge on continued bilateral engagement, stated Alfredo Montufar-Helu, managing director at advisory agency GreenPoint, including that Li’s upcoming conferences might lay the groundwork for higher-level negotiations and enduring options to ease the tensions.