US seeks support from India, European allies as trade tussle with China heats up

As President Donald Trump’s tariffs take the US into murky waters with China, Washington has sought help from India and European allies as trade tensions with Beijing flare up.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News earlier this week that China is making “provocative” economic moves after the country tightened rare mineral exports, prompting Trump to threaten an additional 100 per cent tariffs on Beijing.

“This is China versus the rest of the world. They announced these export controls that are going to go into effect next month, and we have aggressively pushed back against them. We’re not sure where this came from, why the Chinese have decided to do it now,” Bessent said.

He added that the US will not allow China to exert dominance in rare earth exports, which include vital materials for industries like defence, electric vehicles, and electronics. “They have pointed a bazooka at the supply chains and the industrial base of the entire free world. And, you know, we’re not going to have it. China is a command and control economy. They are neither going to command [nor] control us.”

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‘Reaching out to allies’

Bessent said Washington had already started coordinating a collective response to China’s move with allies, including India, European nations, and other Asian democracies.

“We are going to assert our sovereignty in various ways. We have already been in touch with the allies. We will be meeting with them this week and, you know, I expect that we will get substantial global support from the Europeans, from the Indians, from the democracies in Asia,” he added.

Last week, Trump accused Beijing of taking an “extraordinarily aggressive position on trade” and threatened that Washington would impose “large-scale Export Controls on virtually every product they make” as well as on “all critical software”.

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China export controls

China’s commerce ministry has announced new controls on the export of rare-earth technologies and items on Thursday, adding to regulations on a critical industry that has been a key source of tension between Beijing and Washington.

China is the world’s leading producer of the minerals used to make magnets crucial to the auto, electronics and defence industries. It has required licences for certain exports of the materials since April, hitting global manufacturing sectors.

Rare earths have been a major sticking point in recent trade negotiations between China and the United States, with Washington accusing Beijing of slow-walking export licence approvals.

The new controls – which kick in immediately – mean exporters must obtain permission for technologies used for rare-earth mining and smelting, among other processing steps, a Chinese commerce ministry statement said.

With inputs from agencies