Trump Threatens ‘Massive’ Tariffs Against China Over Rare Earth Export Controls: USAR, MP Stocks Jump

Shares of rare earth companies jumped in midday trade on Friday after President Donald Trump warned of a “massive increase in tariffs” on Chinese products after the country announced restrictions on its global supply of rare earth materials.

USA Rare Earth (USAR) led the gains, climbing more than 16%, while MP Materials (MP) rose as much as 14%. However, the broader market witnessed a sell-off. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) fell more than 1.5%, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) slipped 1.04%, and the Nasdaq-100 tracking Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) dropped 2%, at the time of writing. 

Retail sentiment around QQQ on Stocktwits trended in the ‘extremely bearish’ zone, while sentiment around SPY was in ‘bearish’ territory.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed China has become “hostile” and is sending letters to countries worldwide announcing plans to impose export controls on rare earth elements and other critical materials, including some not produced in China. He described the move as a long-standing effort by China to monopolize rare earths and magnets, calling it a “sinister” strategy aimed at global dependency.

“One of the Policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America,” Trump wrote. “There are many other countermeasures that are, likewise, under serious consideration.”

The U.S. President suggested the timing may be linked to the recent Middle East peace deal and said the U.S. could respond using its own resource monopolies. “I have just not chosen to use them, there was never a reason for me to do so — UNTIL NOW,” he wrote, also indicating he might cancel a planned meeting with Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in South Korea.

Trump stated that any U.S. response could cause short-term disruption but would ultimately strengthen America’s strategic position in critical materials.

Read also: EightCo Stock Jumps After Launch Of AI Authentication Pilot For Enterprises

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