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Donald Trump’s most recent ultimatum to impose an further full import duty on Chinese goods has been labeled a “classic case” of American hypocrisy, according to the China’s leadership.

A representative of the ministry further commented that China could enact its own unspecified “retaliatory steps” if the American leader follows through on his warning, emphasizing that the country was “unafraid” of a possible trade conflict.

This past Friday, the former president hit back at Beijing’s move to tighten its rules for overseas sales of rare earth minerals, accusing the Chinese leadership of “turning aggressive” and attempting to hold the world “captive”.

He also vowed to pull out of a scheduled meeting with Chinese leader President Xi, which was arranged for a meeting in South Korea in the coming weeks.

His statements on Friday rattled financial markets, with the benchmark US stock index dropping 2.7%, marking its steepest fall since last spring.

The president’s words revived fears of a commercial dispute between the US and China.

This past spring, the two sides had reached an agreement to remove significant levies on each other’s imports, which had created the possibility of bilateral trade stopping between the two nations.

This left, US tariffs on products from China facing an extra 30% levy compared with the beginning of 2025, while items from the United States entering the Chinese market are subject to a import levy.

China’s latest remarks – published by the Commerce Ministry in the manner of official answers to journalist’s questions – reflected language from the zenith of the latest commercial tensions.

They criticised US export restrictions on chips and semi-conductors while supporting China’s own overseas sale regulations on rare earths as “routine measures” to protect national security and that of every country.

Their representative said that for “an extended period”, the United States had “overstretched the concept of state security, exploited foreign shipment regulations and “implemented” discriminatory practices against Beijing.

“Resorting to tariff threats is not the correct approach to interact with Beijing,” their representative said.

“Beijing’s stance” on a tariff war has always been unchanging: we wish to avoid one, but we are unafraid of one.”

The previous week, Beijing revealed it was tightening overseas sale regulations on rare earth minerals and additional substances essential to high-technology production.

This was seen as a important measure, as the country processes about 90% of the global rare earth supply, which are employed in items such as photovoltaic modules and smartphones.

The recent comments from both governments are being seen by analysts as a means of enhancing bargaining power in preparation for upcoming negotiations.

Remains uncertain whether a meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping, planned at a conference in South Korea in the coming weeks, will take place as planned.