Donald Trump Threatens China With 200% Tariffs: ‘They Have To Give Us Magnets Or..’

Last Updated:August 26, 2025, 20:49 IST

Trump’s statement came at a time when China’s exports of rare-earth magnets have recovered to levels seen before Beijing imposed export curbs in April.

US President Donald Trump (Reuters Image)

US President Donald Trump threatened China on Tuesday, saying Beijing has to give Washington magnets or “we have to charge them 200% tariff or something” amid a trade dispute between the two nations.

China is increasingly sensitive about rare earths and its control over supply, adding several rare earth items and magnets to its export restriction list in April in retaliation to tariff hikes by the United States.

“China has to give us magnets. If they don’t, we charge a 200% tariff or something. Nobody needed magnets until they convinced everybody 20 years ago let’s all do magnets,” he told reporters at the White House.

Trump also said that airplane parts were a key leverage that Washington has to counter Beijing’s grip on rare earths: “200 of their planes were unable to fly because we were not giving them Boeing parts purposely because they weren’t giving us magnets.”

Trump’s statement came at a time when China’s exports of rare-earth magnets have recovered to levels seen before Beijing imposed export curbs in April, CNBC reported, citing the latest government data. Magnets shipped to the US surged more than seven times to 660% in June from the prior month, with volumes rising 76% in July.

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Aveek Banerjee

Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master’s in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international…Read More

Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master’s in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international… Read More

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