Overview

• China unveiled an export-licensing system for strategic minerals used in chips, electric vehicles and defense, citing national security, with reporting indicating permits may be required even for products containing Chinese content sold abroad.
• President Donald Trump said the United States is already in a commercial war with China and warned of an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods if Beijing does not reverse course.
• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington will set minimum prices in select industries and build a strategic mineral reserve to blunt what he called market manipulation.
• U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer accused Beijing of trying to monopolize supply chains, as officials from Japan and Germany urged a coordinated G7 response and partners explored joint actions.
• Working meetings are ongoing and a late-October Trump–Xi session in South Korea is under discussion, but China’s dominance in rare-earth processing leaves the risk of disruption elevated.