President Donald Trump on Monday warned China that Beijing must give the United States magnets or “we have to charge them 200 per cent 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.

Tensions between the world’s two biggest economies have been simmering this year, but have significantly cooled since April, when both countries slapped escalating tariffs on each other’s exports.

At one point, the tit-for-tat duties reached triple digits on both sides, snarling supply chains as many importers halted shipments to try and wait for the governments to work things out.

Since then, Washington and Beijing have reached an agreement to de-escalate tensions, temporarily lowering tariffs to 30 percent on the United States’ side and 10 percent on China’s part.

But Trump on Monday kept the door open to hiking tariffs again if China did not hold up its end of the bargain.

“They have to give us magnets,” Trump said. “If they don’t give us magnets, then we have to charge them (a) 200 percent tariff or something.” “But we’re not going to have a problem, I don’t think, with that,” he added.The US-China truce has been an uneasy one, with Washington previously accusing Beijing of violating their agreement and slow-walking export license approvals for rare earths.China is the world’s leading producer of rare earths, used to make magnets essential to the automotive, electronics and defense industries. The countries have since agreed to move forward.This month, they delayed the threatened reimposition of higher tariffs on each other’s exports for another 90 days — meaning the pause on steeper duties will be in place until November 10.

Trump said Monday that he expects to visit China this year or shortly afterwards, noting that economic ties between the two countries have improved — even as he kept the door open to steeper tariffs.

Speaking to reporters as he met South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Washington, Trump pointed to recent talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping: “At some point, probably during this year or shortly thereafter, we’ll go to China.”

FAQs

Q1. Who is President of USA?
A1. President of USA is Donald Trump.

Q2. Who is President of South Korea?
A2. President of South Korea is Lee Jae Myung.