Bitcoin, stocks and oil plunge as Trump imposes additional 100% tariff on China

Tension flares over rare earth minerals export controls, ending weeks of Wall Street exuberance

A trader at the New York Stock Exchange. Friday's trade was turbulent as US-China relations entered choppy waters. AFP

US President Donald Trump announced an additional 100 per cent tariff on China on Friday, reigniting his trade war with Beijing in a dispute over export controls on rare earth minerals, spooking stock markets and oil, and starting a massive sell-off in Bitcoin.

His announcement – which also included a threat to cancel his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping – came after financial markets and oil prices dropped sharply throughout the day, when he first promised a “massive increase” in tariffs.

Mr Trump said the extra levies, plus US export controls on “any and all critical software”, would come into effect from November 1 in retaliation for what he called Beijing's “extraordinarily aggressive” moves.

“It is impossible to believe that China would have taken such an action, but they have, and the rest is history,” he said on Truth Social.

Chinese goods currently face US tariffs of 30 per cent under tariffs that Mr Trump brought in while accusing Beijing of aiding in the fentanyl trade, and over alleged unfair practices. China's retaliatory tariffs are currently at 10 per cent.

Mr Trump had threatened the tariffs hours earlier in a lengthy surprise post on his Truth Social platform that said China had sent letters to countries around the world detailing export controls on rare earth minerals. He said China was becoming “very hostile” because it wanted to impose export controls on rare earths and other elements.

“We have been contacted by other countries who are extremely angry at this great trade hostility, which came out of nowhere,” Mr Trump wrote.

He also said “now there seems to be no reason” to meet China’s leader, Mr Xi, after earlier agreeing to do so as part of a trip to South Korea.

Oil, already declining after Israel and Hamas agreed on the first phase of its ceasefire deal, extended its decline after Mr Trump issued the threat.

Brent, the benchmark for two thirds of the world's oil, settled 3.82 per cent lower to $62.73 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the gauge that tracks US crude, retreated 4.24 per cent to $58.90 a barrel.

Stock markets, meanwhile, had been heading for a slight gain in the morning, until Mr Trump's remarks stopped what had been several weeks of steady gains.

Wall Street closed the week sharply lower: the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 1.9 per cent, the S&P 500 shed 2.7 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 3.6 per cent.

Major in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai all fell at least 0.9 per cent.

And Bitcoin, the world's biggest cryptocurrency, fell by as much as 12 per cent on Mr Trump's comments that triggered another volatile run for the sector.

Bitcoin fell below $104,000 during a sell-off on Friday before rapidly regaining its ground. It was at just above $112,300 on Saturday. Ethereum, the second-largest crypto, declined by as much as 15 per cent.

The US and China have been jostling for advantage in trade talks after the import taxes announced this year sparked a trade war between the world's two largest economies.

Both nations agreed to reduce tariffs after negotiations in Switzerland and the UK, yet tension remains as China has sought to restrict America's access to the difficult-to-mine rare earths needed for a wide array of US technologies.

Mr Trump said the move on rare earths was “especially inappropriate” given the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

He suggested China was trying to steal the limelight from him for his role in the ceasefire.

“I wonder if that timing was coincidental?” he wrote.