United States President Donald Trump believes China must make the first move to resolve trade tensions between their countries, the White House has said, as his administration turns its attention towards possible tariffs on critical minerals.
In a statement delivered hours before Trump ordered a national security review of imports of rare earths and other minerals on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt quoted the US president as saying that “the ball is in China’s court”.
“China needs to make a deal with us, we don’t have to make a deal with them,” Leavitt told a media briefing in remarks that she said came directly from Trump.
In his executive order, Trump directed US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to launch a national security probe under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, which his administration has previously used to scrutinise imports of copper, lumber, steel and aluminium.
While Trump’s order did not specifically mention China, the country is the biggest producer of 30 of the 50 minerals considered critical by the US Geological Survey.
Trump earlier on Tuesday accused China of reneging on a deal with US aircraft manufacturer Boeing, following a report by Bloomberg that Beijing had directed Chinese airlines to stop taking deliveries of Boeing planes.
Boeing shares fell 2.36 percent after the report, which cited “people familiar with the matter”. Boeing and Chinese authorities have not confirmed or commented on the report.
The US and China have been locked in an escalating trade war since Trump’s return to the White House.
Despite pausing most of his “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of trading partners, Trump has ramped up import taxes on most Chinese goods to 145 percent.
China has, in turn, hit US exports with a 125 percent tariff.
In the latest salvo from China on Wednesday, Hong Kong’s postal service said it would stop carrying US-bound mail in response to the tariffs.
It added that it would stop taking surface mail with immediate effect and stop accepting airmail from April 27.
China has said that it opposes protectionism but it is willing to “fight to the end” if the US continues to escalate its trade salvoes.
In an op-ed published in Vietnam’s Nhan Dan newspaper on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that trade wars “yield no winners” and protectionism “offers no solutions”.
