China says it is 'not afraid' of a trade war, in response to US 100% tariffs threat

China has responded to President Donald Trump’s threats of a 100% tariff on Chinese goods, plus a ban on critical software, because of its expanded rare-earth export controls. According to Newsweek, China is ready to face Washington’s ultimatums, urging it to resolve the issue at the negotiating table instead of making statements on social media.

“If the U.S. persists in acting unilaterally, China will resolutely take corresponding measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China said in a statement. “Our position on a tariff war remains consistent — we do not want one, but we are not afraid of one.”

The current trade war with China kicked off in April of this year, when Trump pushed tariffs on all the U.S.’s trade partners, including a 54% total tariff on Chinese goods. It responded to this with counter-tariffs of its own, plus restrictions on some rare-earth exports that threaten global chipmaking supply chains. Things have seemingly settled down in the past months as both parties negotiated over trade, but China’s recent expansion of rare-earth controls threatens advanced semiconductors up to 14nm, which were first released in 2014.

China is the leading supplier of rare-earth minerals, with the country supplying 70% of the raw materials needed to produce them and 90% of the processing capability across the globe. Because of this, it can potentially strangle the global chip-making supply chain, especially as many companies that make chips are based in the U.S. or in countries that are closely aligned with it.

Interestingly, China used the same language that the U.S. used to block exports to the country in its rare-earth export controls, saying that the restrictions are meant to “safeguard national security” and prevent their use by foreign militaries. However, you can also see that it’s using this as a bargaining chip, as Beijing has previously shown in July 2025, when it eased some of the restrictions in exchange for Washington lifting the export ban on EDA software.

Trump said on his social media platform that he will put the tariff into effect on November 1, meaning the U.S. and China still have some time to talk things through. China likely enacted the expansion of its rare-earth export controls to get something out of the U.S. in negotiations, but we will only know this if it lifts or reduces restrictions after getting a concession from the White House.

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