China struck back at U.S. tariffs with an export pause
China has suspended exports of certain rare earth minerals and magnets that are crucial for the world’s car, semiconductor and aerospace industries. The move is in retaliation for President Trump’s sharp increase in tariffs.
The metals and the special magnets made with them can now be shipped out of China only with special export licenses. But Beijing has barely started setting up a system for issuing the licenses. Industry executives said that supplies of minerals and products outside the country could run low.
Trump’s rapidly escalating trade war with China has scrambled prospects for many global businesses. And there is no end in sight, my colleagues Ana Swanson and Ben Casselman report.
The U.S. administration has been waiting for the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, to call Trump, but Beijing appears wary of putting Xi in an unpredictable situation with the U.S. president.
Charm offensive: Today, Xi will arrive in Vietnam, his first stop on a weeklong tour that will also take him to Malaysia and Cambodia. He is expected to oversee the signing of around 40 agreements, including deals that would advance plans for Vietnam to accept Chinese loans for part of an $8.3 billion railway connecting northern Vietnam with China.
