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Trump announces new 100% China tariff, threatens to scrap Xi talks

Update Trump announces new 100% China tariff, threatens to scrap Xi talks
President Donald Trump said Friday that “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea and threatened additional tariffs after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. (AFP/File)
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Trump announces new 100% China tariff, threatens to scrap Xi talks

Trump announces new 100% China tariff, threatens to scrap Xi talks
  • “Some very strange things are happening in China! They are becoming very hostile,” Trump said
  • Trump was reacting toChina's notification to countries around the world detailing export controls on rare earth minerals
  • Stock markets fell as the simmering trade war reignited, with the Nasdaq down 3.6 percent and the S&P 500 down 2.7 percent

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump announced an additional 100 percent tariff on China Friday and threatened to cancel a summit with Xi Jinping, reigniting his trade war with Beijing in a row over export curbs on rare earth minerals.
Trump said the extra levies, plus US export controls on “any and all critical software,” would come into effect from November 1 in retaliation for what he called Beijing’s “extraordinarily aggressive” moves.
“It is impossible to believe that China would have taken such an action, but they have, and the rest is History,” he said on Truth Social.
Stock markets fell as the simmering trade war between the United States and China reignited, with the Nasdaq down 3.6 percent and the S&P 500 down 2.7 percent.

Chinese goods currently face US tariffs of 30 percent under tariffs that Trump brought in while accusing Beijing of aiding in the fentanyl trade, and over alleged unfair practices.
China’s retaliatory tariffs are currently at 10 percent.
Trump had threatened the tariffs hours earlier in a lengthy surprise post on his Truth Social network that said China had sent letters to countries around the world detailing export controls on rare earth minerals.
Rare earth elements are critical to manufacturing everything from smartphones and electric vehicles to military hardware and renewable energy technology. China dominates global production and processing of these materials.
“There is no way that China should be allowed to hold the World ‘captive,’” Trump wrote, describing China’s stance as “very hostile.”

The US president then called into question his plans to meet Chinese president Xi at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit later this month.
It was to be the first encounter between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies since Trump returned to power in January.
“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,” he wrote.
Trump later told reporters in the Oval Office that he hadn’t canceled the meeting.
“I haven’t canceled, but I don’t know that we’re going to have it. But I’m going to be there regardless, so I would assume we might have it,” he said.

‘Lying in wait’

On Thursday, the Chinese government restricted access to the rare earths ahead of the scheduled Trump-Xi meeting. Beijing would require foreign companies to get special approval for shipping the metallic elements aboard. It also announced permitting requirements on exports of technologies used in the mining, smelting and recycling of rare earths, adding that any export requests for products used in military goods would be rejected.

The US president said he did not understand why China was choosing to act now. “Some very strange things are happening in China! ” he said.

Trump said that China is “becoming very hostile” and that it’s holding the world “captive” by restricting access to the metals and magnets used in electronics, computer chips, lasers, jet engines and other technologies.

He said other countries had contacted the United States expressing anger over China’s “great Trade hostility, which came out of nowhere.”

He also accused Beijing of “lying in wait” despite what he characterized as six months of good relations, which has notably seen progress on bringing TikTok’s US operations under American control as required by a law passed by Congress last year.




A container ship sits docked at the Port of Oakland on October 10, 2025 in Oakland, California. US President Donald Trump has impose da massive increase of tariffs on Chinese imports in response to China's announcement of new export controls on rare earths. (Getty Images via AFP)

“I have not spoken to President Xi because there was no reason to do so,” Trump posted. “This was a real surprise, not only to me, but to all the Leaders of the Free World.”
The US president said the move on rare earths was “especially inappropriate” given the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza so that the remaining hostages from Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack can be released. He raised the possibility without evidence that China was trying to steal the moment from him for his role in the ceasefire, saying on social media, “I wonder if that timing was coincidental?”

His outburst comes just weeks after he had spoken of the importance of meeting Xi at the APEC summit and said that he would travel to China next year.
Washington and Beijing engaged in a tit-for-tat tariffs war earlier this year that threatened to effectively halt trade between the world’s two largest economies.
Both sides eventually agreed to de-escalate tensions but the truce has been shaky.
Trump said last week that he would push Xi on US soybean purchases as American farmers, a key voting demographic in his 2024 election win, grapple with fallout from his trade wars.
China had said earlier Friday that it would impose “special port fees” on ships operated by and built in the United States after Washington announced charges for Chinese-linked ships in April.
In a further development, the US communications watchdog said it had successfully managed to get “millions” of listings for banned Chinese items removed from commerce platforms.
“The Communist Party of China is engaged in a multi-prong effort to insert insecure devices into Americans’ homes and businesses,” Brendan Carr, head of the Federal Communications Commission, said on X.

Trump’s trade war
The outbreak of a tariff-fueled trade war between the US and China initially caused the world economy to shudder over the possibility of global commerce collapsing. Trump imposed tariffs totaling 145 percent on Chinese goods, with China responding with import taxes of 125 percent on American products.
The taxes were so high as to effectively be a blockade on trade between the countries. That led to negotiations that reduced the tariff charged by the US government to 30 percent and the rate imposed by China to 10 percent so that further talks could take place. But differences continue over America’s access to rare earths from China, US restrictions on China’s ability to import advanced computer chips, sales of American-grown soybeans and a series of tit-for-tat port fees being levied by both countries starting on Tuesday.
There is already a backlog of export license applications from Beijing’s previous round of export controls on rare earth elements, and the latest announcements “add further complexity to the global supply chain of rare earth elements,” the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said in a statement.
Just what Trump’s threat meant was open to interpretation, as it could simply be an attempt to gain some leverage under the belief that China has overplayed its hand or an ominous sign of trade tensions leading to potentially destructive increase in tariff rates.
How analysts see moves by US and China
Cole McFaul, a research fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, said that Trump appeared in his post to be readying for talks on the possibility that China had overplayed its hand. By contrast, China sees itself as having come out ahead when the two countries have engaged in talks.
“From Beijing’s point of view, they’re in a moment where they’re feeling a lot of confidence about their ability to handle the Trump administration,” McFaul said. “Their impression is they’ve come to the negotiating table and extracted key concessions.”
Craig Singleton, senior director of the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank, said Trump’s post could “mark the beginning of the end of the tariff truce” that had lowered the tax rates charged by both countries.
It’s still unclear how Trump intends to follow through on his threats and how China plans to respond.
“But the risk is clear: Mutually assured disruption between the two sides is no longer a metaphor,” Singleton said. “Both sides are reaching for their economic weapons at the same time, and neither seems willing to back down.”


Reappointed French PM scrambles to form government

Reappointed French PM scrambles to form government
Updated 11 October 2025

Reappointed French PM scrambles to form government

Reappointed French PM scrambles to form government
  • Lecornu on X said after the Elysee announcement that he had accepted the mission “out of duty.”
  • Macron, facing the worst domestic crisis since the 2017 start of his presidency, has yet to address the public

PARIS: Pressure mounted Saturday on France’s newly reappointed premier Sebastien Lecornu to get an austerity budget approved, as more parties threatened to topple a man whose first term lasted a mere 27 days.

In a move that drew sharp criticism, President Emmanuel Macron reinstated Lecornu late Friday evening, just four days after his resignation and the collapse of a government that survived only 14 hours.

Lecornu, 39, now faces the task of forming a cabinet to present a 2026 draft budget on Monday, in a bid to end months of political paralysis and rein in France’s sprawling debt.

But his new government is already at risk, after his reappointment provoked outrage across the political spectrum and pledges to vote it down at the first chance.

Far-right National Rally party leader Jordan Bardella called Lecornu’s reappointment a “bad joke” and said he would immediately seek to vote out the new cabinet.

Outgoing Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau told members of his right-wing Republicans (LR) party that they should “not take part” in Lecornu’s next government.

While the Socialists, a swing group in parliament, said they had “no deal” with Lecornu and would oust his government if he did not agree to suspend a 2023 pensions reform that increased retirement age from 62 to 64.

France has been mired in political deadlock ever since Macron gambled last year on snap polls that he hoped would consolidate power – but ended instead in a hung parliament and more seats for the far right.

The country faces EU pressure to curb its deficit and debt, and it was the fight over cost-cutting measures that toppled Lecornu’s two predecessors.

For his part, Lecornu has pledged to do “everything possible” to give France a budget by the end of the year, saying restoring the public finances was “a priority” for the future.

Time is running out however to give parliament the constitutionally required 70 days to examine the budget before year’s end.

Macron, facing the worst domestic crisis since the 2017 start of his presidency, has yet to address the public since Lecornu’s first government fell.

‘Set aside ambitions’

Lecornu, a Macron loyalist who previously served as defense minister, agreed to stay on for two extra days after he quit to talk to all political parties.

He told French television late Wednesday that he believed a revised draft budget for 2026 could be put forward on Monday, which would meet the deadline for its approval by the end of the year.

Lecornu warned on Friday that all those who wanted to join his government “must commit to setting aside presidential ambitions” for the 2027 elections.

Lecornu’s suggested list of ministers last Sunday sparked criticism that it was not enough of a break with the past, and he suggested on Wednesday that it should include technocrats.

In an unprecedented move, former premier Edouard Philippe, a contender in the next presidential polls, earlier this week said Macron himself should step down after a budget was passed.

But Macron has always insisted he would stay until the end of his term.

The far-right National Rally senses its best-ever chance of winning power in the 2027 presidential vote, with Macron having served the maximum two terms.

Its three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is barred from running after being convicted in a corruption case, but her 30-year-old lieutenant Bardella could be a candidate instead.


North Korea holds military parade, shows off new intercontinental missile

North Korea holds military parade, shows off new intercontinental missile
Updated 11 October 2025

North Korea holds military parade, shows off new intercontinental missile

North Korea holds military parade, shows off new intercontinental missile
  • Kim Jong Un oversees parade with new Hwasong-20 ICBM
  • Foreign dignitaries from China, Russia, Vietnam in attendance

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a large military parade displaying its new intercontinental ballistic missile in front of visiting international dignitaries, state media KCNA said on Saturday.
The parade, which began late on Friday, marked the 80th anniversary of the foundation of its ruling Workers’ Party and followed celebrations on Thursday.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Russia’s former President Dmitry Medvedev, as well as Vietnam’s Communist Party chief To Lam were seen at Kim’s side at the parade, while other foreign dignitaries looked on.
In the military parade, nuclear-armed North Korea displayed its most advanced Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile, described by KCNA as the country’s “strongest nuclear strategic weapon system.”
The Hwasong series of ICBMs has given North Korea the capacity to target anywhere on the US mainland, but questions remain over the sophistication of its guidance system to reach a target, and the ability of a warhead it carries to withstand atmospheric re-entry.
“The Hwasong-20 represents, for the moment, the apotheosis of North Korea’s ambitions for long-range nuclear delivery capabilities. We should expect to see the system tested before the end of this year,” said Ankit Panda of the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“The system is likely designed for the delivery of multiple warheads... Multiple warheads will increase stresses on existing US missile defense systems and augment what Kim sees as necessary to achieve meaningful deterrence effects against Washington.”
Other weapons on display included hypersonic ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, a new type of multiple rocket launcher and a launcher for suicide drones, said Hong Min, North Korea analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
At the military parade, Kim gave a speech in which he expressed “warm encouragement” for North Korean troops in overseas operations, adding its military’s heroism will not only be seen in the defense of North Korea but also in “outposts of socialist construction,” KCNA said.
“Our army should continue to grow into an invincible entity that destroys all threats,” Kim said.
Kim held talks earlier on Friday with Medvedev, who said the sacrifice of North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia in its military campaign in Ukraine proved the trust in relations between the two countries.
Kim told Medvedev he hopes to continue strengthening cooperation with Russia and to closely engage in diverse exchanges to achieve common goals, KCNA said.
Vietnam and North Korea also signed agreements of cooperation in various fields including between their defense, foreign and health ministries, KCNA said without elaborating.


Luigi Mangione’s lawyers seek dismissal of federal charges in assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO

Luigi Mangione’s lawyers seek dismissal of federal charges in assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO
Updated 11 October 2025

Luigi Mangione’s lawyers seek dismissal of federal charges in assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO

Luigi Mangione’s lawyers seek dismissal of federal charges in assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO
  • Lawyers for Luigi Mangione say a New York federal judge should dismiss criminal charges, including a death-eligible count, from a federal indictment brought against him

NEW YORK: Lawyers for Luigi Mangione asked a New York federal judge Saturday to dismiss some criminal charges, including the only count for which he could face the death penalty, from a federal indictment brought against him in the December assassination of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive.
In papers filed in Manhattan federal court, the lawyers said prosecutors should also be prevented from using at trial his statements to law enforcement officers and his backpack where a gun and ammunition were found.
They said Mangione was not read his rights before he was questioned by law enforcement officers, who arrested him after Brian Thompson was fatally shot as he arrived at a Manhattan hotel for an investor conference.
They added that officers did not obtain a warrant before searching Mangione’s backpack.
Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges in the fatal shooting of Brian Thompson on Dec. 4 as he arrived at a Manhattan hotel for his company’s annual investor conference.
The killing set off a multi-state search after the suspected shooter slipped away from the scene and rode a bike to Central Park, before taking a taxi to a bus depot that offers service to several nearby states.
Five days later, a tip from a McDonald’s about 233 miles (375 kilometers) away in Altoona, Pennsylvania, led police to arrest Mangione. He has been held without bail since then.
Last month, lawyers for Mangione asked that his federal charges be dismissed and the death penalty be taken off the table as a result of public comments by US Attorney General Pam Bondi. In April, Bondi directed prosecutors in New York to seek the death penalty, calling the killing of Thompson a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”
Murder cases are usually tried in state courts, but prosecutors have also charged Mangione under a federal law on murders committed with firearms as part of other “crimes of violence.” It’s the only charge for which Mangione could face the death penalty, since it’s not used in New York state.
The papers filed early Saturday morning argued that this charge should be dismissed because prosecutors have failed to identify the other offenses that would be required to convict him, saying that the alleged other crime — stalking — is not a crime of violence.
The assassination and its aftermath has captured the American imagination, setting off a cascade of resentment and online vitriol toward US health insurers while rattling corporate executives concerned about security.
After the killing, investigators found the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose,” written in permanent marker on ammunition at the scene. The words mimic a phrase used by insurance industry critics.


Militant attack on Pakistan police training center kills seven officers

Militant attack on Pakistan police training center kills seven officers
Updated 11 October 2025

Militant attack on Pakistan police training center kills seven officers

Militant attack on Pakistan police training center kills seven officers

PESHAWAR: Seven policemen and six militants were killed in a late-night attack on a police training center in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, police said on Saturday, amid a surge in militancy in the region bordering Afghanistan.

The attack came a day after reports of airstrikes in the Afghan capital, Kabul, that reportedly sought to target Noor Wali Mehsud, chief of the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The TTP initially claimed the assault on the police training center in DI Khan, saying a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the gate before others entered the facility, but later retracted the statement.

Yaqoob Khan, a DI Khan police spokesman, told Arab News the wall of the facility collapsed because of the impact of the blast and killed two policemen, followed by a fierce gunbattle both sides.

“A total of seven policemen were martyred and 13 others injured,” Khan said, adding all six militants were killed. “All 200 trainees and staff at the training center were safely evacuated.”

Pakistan has struggled to contain a surge in militancy in KP in recent years, where militant groups, mainly the TTP, frequently target security forces and have been involved in killings and kidnappings of government officials. This week, at least 12 Pakistani soldiers, including three officers, were killed in separate militant attacks in the region.

Islamabad has frequently blamed the Afghan Taliban for harboring TTP militants, saying the group launches cross-border attacks against its security forces and civilians from the Afghan soil, though Kabul has denied the allegation.

The two countries traded sharp warnings on Friday after Kabul accused Islamabad of violating its airspace and bombing a border town while the Pakistani military vowed to do “whatever is necessary” to defend Pakistan’s territorial integrity.


Officials investigate blast at Tennessee explosives plant that left 18 missing and feared dead

Officials investigate blast at Tennessee explosives plant that left 18 missing and feared dead
Updated 11 October 2025

Officials investigate blast at Tennessee explosives plant that left 18 missing and feared dead

Officials investigate blast at Tennessee explosives plant that left 18 missing and feared dead
  • The explosion Friday morning at Accurate Energetic Systems scattered debris over at least an 800-meter area
  • Aerial footage showed the company’s hilltop location smoldering and smoky

McEWEN, Tennessee: Officials were investigating a blast that leveled an explosives plant in rural Tennessee, as families of the 18 people missing and feared dead waited anxiously Saturday for answers.

The explosion Friday morning at Accurate Energetic Systems, which supplies and researches explosives for the military, scattered debris over at least an 800-meter area and was felt by residents more than 24 kilometers away, said Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis.

Aerial footage showed the company’s hilltop location smoldering and smoky Friday, with just a mass of twisted metal, burned-out shells of cars and an array of debris left behind.

Davis, who described it as one of the worst scenes he’s ever seen, said multiple people were killed. But he declined to say how many, referring to the 18 missing as “souls” because officials were still speaking to family.

“What we need right now is we need our communities to come together and understand that we’ve lost a lot of people,” he said.

The company’s website says it processes explosives and ammunition at an eight-building facility that sprawls across wooded hills in the Bucksnort area, about 97 kilometers southwest of Nashville. It’s not immediately known how many people work at the plant or how many were there when the explosion happened.

Davis said investigators are trying to determine what happened and couldn’t say what caused the explosion.

Accurate Energetic Systems, based in nearby McEwen, said in a post on social media on Friday that their “thoughts and prayers” are with the families and community impacted.

“We extend our gratitude to all first responders who continue to work tirelessly under difficult conditions,” the post said.

The company has been awarded numerous military contracts, largely by the US Army and Navy, to supply different types of munitions and explosives, according to public records. The products range from bulk explosives to land mines and small breaching charges, including C4.

When the explosion occurred, residents in Lobelville, a 20-minute drive from the scene, said they felt their homes shake, and some people captured the loud boom of the explosion on their home cameras.

The blast rattled Gentry Stover from his sleep.

“I thought the house had collapsed with me inside of it,” he told The Associated Press. “I live very close to Accurate and I realized about 30 seconds after I woke up that it had to have been that.”

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee posted on the social platform X that he is monitoring the situation and asked “Tennesseans to join us in prayer for the families impacted by this tragic incident.”

A small group gathered for a vigil Friday night at a nearby park, clutching candles as they prayed for the missing and their families and sang “Amazing Grace.”

The US has a long history of deadly accidents at workplaces, including the Monongah coal mine explosion that killed 362 men and boys in West Virginia in 1907. Several high-profile industrial accidents in the 1960s helped lead President Richard Nixon to sign a law creating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration the next year.

In 2019, Accurate Energetic Systems faced several small fines from the US Department of Labor for violations of policies meant to protect workers from exposure to hazardous chemicals, radiation and other irritants, according to citations from OSHA.

In 2014, an explosion occurred at another ammunition facility in the same small community, killing one person and injuring at least three others.