China hits back at Trump on shipping with curbs on US units of Hanwha Ocean

China has hit back at the United States by sanctioning the US units of a South Korean shipping company and promising retaliatory measures on the industry in the latest tit-for-tat move as both Beijing and Washington attempt to gain leverage ahead of trade talks.

The sanctions target five US units of Hanwha Ocean Co. (042660.KS), and have caused stocks around the world to fall on Tuesday as investors grow concerned about rising trade tensions between the world’s largest economies.

President Trump hinted at a possible de-escalation of tariff and trade tensions between the US and China, while at the same time issuing a veiled threat to China’s President Xi Jinping.

“Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine! Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment. He doesn’t want Depression for his country, and neither do I. The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!” he wrote on Truth Social.

On Friday, Trump said the US would impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods starting on Nov. 1.

The president said the move was prompted by China taking an “extraordinarily aggressive” position on trade by announcing new export controls on rare earth minerals that would take effect next month. Trump also said export controls targeting China’s access to “critical software” would go into effect on the same day in November.

In addition to the mineral curbs, China has also slapped new port fees on US ships and launched an antitrust investigation into US-based Qualcomm (QCOM). Beijing has also halted purchases of US soybeans, scrambling business plans for US farmers.

Read more: What Trump’s tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet

US tariffs on China of nearly 145% in some cases are on hold until Nov. 10 while the two countries made progress on a larger trade deal. Chinese tariffs on US goods ballooned to 125% before the pause.

Here’s what else to know on Trump’s tariffs:

  • Americans are set to pay more than half of President Trump’s tariffs as companies raise prices, according to Goldman Sachs. Americans will likely bear the brunt of 55% of tariff costs by the end of the year, with US companies taking on 22%.

  • Early next month, the US Supreme Court is set to hear a challenge to Trump’s most sweeping tariffs — the “reciprocal” country-by-country duties that you can see in the graphic above. A ruling against the tariffs — which would be in line with lower-court decisions — could have significant ramifications for Trump’s tariff strategy.

  • New duties on kitchen cabinets and vanities took effect Oct. 1.

  • Tariffs on timber and certain wood products (like furniture) will take effect Oct. 14.

LIVE 18 updates

  • Jenny McCall

    From oil to the dollar: How US-China trade tensions are effecting markets

    The latest trade tensions between the US and China has rattled markets. Here’s a list of all the assets effected by the latest tariff turmoil.

    Currencies: The dollar (DX=F) fluctuated on Tuesday following China’s response to the US on tariffs. Risk sentiment fell as investors moved towards traditional safe havens such as the yen and Swiss franc.

    Crypto: Cryptocurrencies bitcoin (BTC-USD) and ether (ETH-USD) continued to fall on Tuesday. With the largest crypto asset, bitcoin dropping almost 3% to $111,950, while ether slumped 4% falling below $4,000 to $3,992.

    Oil: Brent crude futures (BZ=F) fell 2% to $61.93 and US West Texas Intermediate crude (CL=F) also dropped 2% to $58.15 at 08:58 GMT, reversing earlier gains amid uncertainty around US-China trade relations.

  • Jenny McCall

    China retaliates sanctioning US units of Hanwha Ocean

    China has responded to the US by sanctioning five US units of Hanwha Ocean Co. The move fueled a fall in global equities on Tuesday as concerns on rising trade tensions between the world’s largest economies grew among investors. Hanwha Ocean’s (042660.KS) stock dropped 8%, while shares of Chinese shipbuilders rose.

    Bloomberg News reports:

    Read more here.

  • Brooke DiPalma

    Goldman Sachs says US consumers will pay for over half of Trump’s tariffs

    A new analysis from Goldman Sachs on Sunday suggested that US consumers will ultimately pay for more than half of the cost of tariffs.

    The firm predicted that by year-end, 55% of the costs of the Trump administration’s tariffs will be paid by consumers, 18% will be paid by foreign exporters, and 5% will be evaded.

    Unlike in 2019, the entirety of tariffs hasn’t been passed along to consumers yet, since “companies might be waiting longer this time” before raising prices to see if tariffs will remain in place amid legal challenges, the Goldman research team wrote. Companies may have also stockpiled inventory before the tariffs took effect to limit the impact.

    “[Companies] have been absorbing the cost [of] the higher prices, and the way they absorb those higher prices is … by being incredibly efficient,” National Retail Federation chief economist Mark Matthews told Yahoo Finance. “You can’t be incredibly efficient forever, … eventually it will have to turn into job cuts and wage reductions, and that’s where the economy gets hurt.”

    On Friday, US markets sold off after Trump posted on Truth Social that the US would impose an additional 100% tariff rate on China in response to the country’s rare earth export controls. Trump backtracked somewhat on Sunday, sending all three major indexes higher on Monday.

    Goldman said, “We are not assuming any changes to tariff rates on imports from China, but events in recent days suggest large risks.”

  • Canada seeks to ease China, India tensions as Trump digs in

    Canadian foreign minister Anita Anand is traveling to New Delhi, Mumbai, Singapore, and Hangzhou, China, this week as the country seeks to strengthen ties with China and India to boost trade and investment.

    Anand’s trip also comes as trade talks with the Trump administration remain fragile.

    Bloomberg reports:

    Read more here.

  • Bessent still sees Xi-Trump meeting, says all options are open

    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking to Fox Business on Monday, said that he still expects President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to meet. He also noted that all options are on the table for retaliating against China’s export controls on rare earths.

    “He will be meeting with party chair Xi in Korea — I believe that meeting will still be on,” Bessent said, adding that there had been “substantial communication” over the weekend.

    Trump threatened to cancel the meeting with Xi on Friday in a post where he also announced plans to impose additional tariffs of 100%, starting Nov. 1.

    “This is China versus the world — they have pointed a bazooka at the supply chains and the industrial base of the entire free world, and we’re not going to have it,” Bessent said.

    Read more here from Bloomberg.

  • Jenny McCall

    Goldman sees US consumers paying more than half of Trump tariffs

    Bloomberg News reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    China tells US to back off on threats, warns of retaliation

    China has warned the US to back off with tariff threats and said it will retaliate with higher tariffs. Beijing has already started to fight back with restrictions on the export of batteries. China has also urged for negotiations between Washington and the US to continue.

    Bloomberg News reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    China’s new weapon in US trade talks: batteries

    Bloomberg News reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Trump, Vance open door to China deal as trade spat drags on

    President Trump and Vice President JD Vance looked to deescalate rising trade tensions between the US and China on Sunday, following Trump’s 100% tariff threat on Chinese exports last week.

    The US-China trade war has rekindled after China placed more restrictions on its rare earth exports and said it would investigate US chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM). Beijing has also announced a crackdown on Nvidia (NVDA) chips. This may have stirred up the Trump administration, which responded on Friday by saying it would place an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods from Nov. 1.

    Bloomberg News reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    China stocks felt the full force of President Trump’s tariff threats with equities falling and bond futures climbing, as investors remained concerned over rising trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, despite Trump’s Truth Social post signaling a deescalation of the trade war.

    Bloomberg News reports:

    Read more here.

  • China offers reply to Trump’s 100% tariffs

    Bloomberg reports:

    Read more here.

  • Latest Trump tariffs rankle crypto markets, triggering record liquidations

    The impact of President Trump’s latest tariff threat was felt across economic sectors Friday, including recently soaring crypto markets, Bloomberg reports:

    Read more here

  • Trump says US will impose additional 100% tariffs on goods from China

    President Trump followed through on a threat to sharply increase tariffs on Chinese goods on Friday afternoon, stating that the US will impose a hefty 100% tariff on China starting Nov. 1, which will be added on top of other existing tariffs.

    In a social media post, Trump cited a letter China sent to other nations regarding export controls, which he said marked “extraordinarily aggressive position on Trade.”

    “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 posted on Truth Social. “Also on November 1st, we will impose Export Controls on any and all critical software.”

  • Brett LoGiurato

    Stocks have worst day since post-‘Liberation Day’ woes

    Tariff jitters returned to Wall Street in a big way on Friday.

    The Dow (^DJI) fell almost 900 points. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) lost 2.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) sank over 3.5% in their worst days since April. The moves came after President Trump renewed his tariff threats against China, specifically warning of a “massive increase” in duties.

    The moves downward Friday cemented significant weekly losses, and it wiped out stock gains in October so far. The major indexes haven’t had a down month since May.

    You can catch up on the day’s action in our markets live blog.

  • Daniel Howley

    Qualcomm stock sinks as China launches antitrust investigation

    China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) announced on Friday that it is launching an investigation into Qualcomm’s (QCOM) June acquisition of Autotalks, pulling the chip company into a growing number of firms ensnared in the ongoing economic tit-for-tat between the US and China.

    In a statement, SAMR said Qualcomm’s acquisition is suspected of violating the country’s anti-monopoly laws, though it didn’t provide any further details on what element of the deal broke monopoly laws or how.

    In a statement, a Qualcomm spokesperson said, “We are fully cooperating with SAMR in this matter. Qualcomm is committed to supporting the development and growth of our customers and partners.”

    The announcement comes the same day President Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that the Chinese government is seeking to tighten its control over rare earth minerals. Trump went on to threaten a “massive increase” in tariffs on Chinese goods.

    Read more here.

  • Stocks fall after Trump threatens ‘massive increase’ of tariffs on Chinese goods

    Stocks fell on Friday after President Trump posted on Truth Social that he is considering imposing a “massive increase” in tariffs on Chinese goods and announced that he would not meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in South Korea in two weeks.

    “I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so,” Trump said after rebuking China for threatening rare earth export controls. “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.”

    Trump’s post sent Chinese tech stocks Alibaba (BABA), Tencent (TCHEY), and Baidu (BIDU) tumbling, while shares of rare earths companies MP Materials (MP) and USA Rare Earth (USAR) soared.

    Meanwhile, Treasurys turned lower, with the 10-year yield (^TNX) dropping 8 basis points to 4.06%.

    Read more about the market’s reaction here.

  • China targets Qualcomm, US ships as Trump-Xi talks loom

    Chinese authorities began an antitrust probe into US chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM) and hit US shippers with new port fees.

    They’re the latest in a tit-for-tat jostling for leverage by the US and China ahead of this month’s key meeting between Presidents Xi and Trump. A fragile trade truce between the two countries will expire in November too.

    Bloomberg reports:

    Read more here.

  • China launches customs crackdown on Nvidia AI chips

    Nvidia is in China’s crosshairs again, as Beijing tightens border checks on the US company’s products at key ports.

    Previously, customs authorities had done little to hinder US chip imports as long as duties were paid as required. The stepped-up measures come amid a Chinese push to get its tech companies to order chips locally instead.

    The Financial Times reports:

    Read more here.

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