'Moral disgrace!' Trump rages about China's trade practices as markets fear new tariffs

President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social account on Friday evening to vent fury over China's trade practices — and announce a retaliatory tariff that markets have feared.

This follows a previous rant earlier in the day on the same topic, as China condemns retaliatory port fees for U.S. ships.

"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," wrote Trump. "This affects ALL Countries, without exception, and was obviously a plan devised by them years ago. It is absolutely unheard of in International Trade, and a moral disgrace in dealing with other Nations."

"Based on the fact that China has taken this unprecedented position, and speaking only for the U.S.A., and not other Nations who were similarly threatened, 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," Trump continued. "Also on November 1st, we will impose Export Controls on any and all critical software."

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

The stock market responded to today's tariff threats with a precipitous drop, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing nearly 900 points lower than the day's trading.