Trump nails China with massive tariffs after ‘extraordinarily aggressive’ action

Markets reacted negatively to an announcement from President Donald Trump Friday that the U.S. would nail China with a massive hike in tariffs.

The president said he was responding to “extraordinarily aggressive” action taken by the third-largest trading partner to the U.S., behind Canada and ahead of Germany.

‘It is impossible to believe that China would have taken such an action, but they have, and the rest is History. Thank you for your attention to this matter!’

Trump posted the statement on Truth Social just ahead of the stock market close.

“It has just been learned that China has taken an extraordinarily aggressive position on Trade in sending an extremely hostile letter to the World, stating that they were going to, effective November 1st, 2025, impose large scale Export Controls on virtually every product they make, and some not even made by them,” the president wrote.

He went on to call the plan a “moral disgrace” and said the plan was “obviously” devised by Chinese leaders years ago.

“Based on the fact that China has taken this unprecedented position, … starting November 1st, 2025 (or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China), the United States of America will impose a Tariff of 100% on China, over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying,” he added. “Also on November 1st, we will impose Export Controls on any and all critical software.”

The president was responding to an announcement from Chinese officials on Thursday that they were imposing export controls on rare earth minerals and technology. The new tariff imposition would bring the total tariff burden for Chinese products to 140%.

RELATED: Trump slaps India with 25% tariff — in an attempt to influence Russia

Photo by JIM WATSONPETER KLAUNZER/AFP/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Stock market futures took a modest dive, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq indicator dropping by 3.6% and the Dow Jones slipping by 1.9%, or about 900 points.

Cryptocurrency, on the other hand, plummeted after the tariff post, with the value of Bitcoin dropping by as much as 10% at one point. Other cryptocurrencies dropped between 20% and 40%.

“It is impossible to believe that China would have taken such an action, but they have, and the rest is History,” Trump concluded. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

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