President Donald Trump says that China has turned "hostile," claiming it's been a "real surprise" amid the ongoing tariff war — suggesting a "massive increase of tariffs" on Chinese products.
China Friday slammed new retaliatory port fees for U.S. ships, according to The Associated Press.
Trump responded on his Truth Social platform Friday:
"Some very strange things are happening in China! They are becoming very hostile, and sending letters to Countries throughout the World, that they want to impose Export Controls on each and every element of production having to do with Rare Earths, and virtually anything else they can think of, even if it’s not manufactured in China. Nobody has ever seen anything like this but, essentially, it would 'clog' the Markets, and make life difficult for virtually every Country in the World, especially for China."
He suggested that other countries are angry about the "trade hostility," saying it "came out of nowhere." He also said the U.S. relationship with China has "been a very good one" over the last six months.
"I have always felt that they’ve been lying in wait, and now, as usual, I have been proven right! There is no way that China should be allowed to hold the World 'captive,' but that seems to have been their plan for quite some time, starting with the 'Magnets' and, other Elements that they have quietly amassed into somewhat of a Monopoly position, a rather sinister and hostile move, to say the least."
Trump also said he was set to meet with President Xi Jinping in two weeks at APEC in South Korea, "but now there seems to be no reason to do so."
He also argued that the timing was suspicious to him — and that he was planning repercussions.
"The Chinese letters were especially inappropriate in that this was the Day that, after three thousand years of bedlam and fighting, there is PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. I wonder if that timing was coincidental? Dependent on what China says about the hostile 'order' that they have just put out, I will be forced, as President of the United States of America, to financially counter their move."
He pointed to the measures as "though potentially painful, it will be a very good thing, in the end, for the U.S.A."
"One of the Policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America."