Trump Threatens China With Tariffs Over Magnet Supply But Stops Short Of Action Yet Again

US President Donald Trump warned on Monday that China must guarantee America’s supply of rare earth magnets or face tariffs as high as 200 per cent, even as he insisted Chinese students would continue to be welcome in the country.

“They have to give us magnets,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the White House.

“Otherwise we have to charge them 200 per cent tariff or something," he added.

Trump admitted such duties could collapse bilateral trade. “We have a much more powerful thing, that’s tariffs. If we want to put 100 per cent, 200 per cent tariffs on, we wouldn’t do any business with China,” he said.

He also hinted at unspecified leverage. “We have incredible cards, but I don’t want to play those cards. If I played those cards, that would destroy China,” Trump said, without elaborating.

The remarks mark a harder edge compared with his earlier stance this month, when he extended a 90-day pause on new tariff hikes against Beijing.

However, Trump has so far refrained from penalising China despite repeated warnings, even as he imposed 25 per cent tariffs on India over Russian oil purchases, leaving Beijing untouched although it remains the largest buyer.