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The former US president’s newest ultimatum to enforce an extra 100% tariff on products from China has been labeled a “typical example” of United States’ contradictory behavior, as stated by the Beijing administration.

A representative of the ministry additionally remarked that China could introduce its own undisclosed “countermeasures” if the American leader carries out his threat, adding that the country was “not afraid” of a looming commercial battle.

This past Friday, the former president retaliated at China’s decision to tighten its policies for overseas sales of critical elements, accusing Beijing of “adopting a confrontational stance” and attempting to hold the international market “under its control”.

Additionally, he threatened to cancel a scheduled meeting with Beijing’s head of state Xi Jinping, which was expected to take place during a meeting in South Korea in the coming weeks.

The former president’s remarks on Friday shook stock exchanges, with the S&P 500 closing down over two and a half percent, marking its largest decline since last spring.

His comments reignited apprehensions of a trade conflict between the US and China.

In May, the both nations had reached an agreement to remove high import duties on each other’s goods, which had created the possibility of bilateral trade stopping between the two countries.

This left, American import duties on Chinese imports facing an extra import tax compared with the beginning of 2025, while items from the United States entering China incur a 10% tariff.

China’s latest remarks – published by the Commerce Ministry in the form of official answers to press queries – mirrored language from the peak of the recent trade conflict.

The remarks condemned United States controls on electronic components while defending China’s own restrictions on exports on rare earth minerals as “routine measures” to ensure state interests and that of every country.

Their representative stated that for “many years”, the United States had “overstretched the concept of national security, abused foreign shipment regulations and “enforced” unfair treatments against China.

“Resorting to tariff threats is not the right way to engage with China,” the spokesperson commented.

“China’s position on a import duty dispute has always been unchanging: we do not want one, but we are not afraid of one.”

Recently, China announced it was reinforcing overseas sale regulations on rare earth minerals and other materials essential to high-technology production.

This move was regarded as a important measure, as the country refines about the vast majority of the world’s rare earths, which are used in products such as solar panels and smartphones.

New remarks from Washington and Beijing are being seen by analysts as a method of strengthening positions in preparation for upcoming negotiations.

Is not yet known whether a talks between Trump and China’s leader, planned at a conference in the Republic of Korea in the coming weeks, will still proceed.