Chinese state media on Thursday issued a seven-point rebuttal to U.S. calls for Beijing to roll back its rare earths controls, as both sides struggle to move beyond a barrage of barbs and accusations of blindsided the other.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Wednesday called new restrictions on China’s rare earth exports “a global supply chain power grab” and suggested Beijing could avoid President Donald Trump’s threat to reimpose triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods by shelving measures that take effect on Nov. 8.
Beijing maintains that not only did it notify Washington before announcing the new licensing regime, but that the controls are also consistent with measures long implemented in other major economies.
The United States and China have been embroiled in a war of words since a September phone call between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, in which each accused the other of stoking tensions weeks before an expected meeting between the two men.
Beijing attributes the heightened rhetoric to the U.S. Commerce Department’s surprise expansion of its “Entity List” in late September to include companies in China and elsewhere that use subsidiaries to circumvent export restrictions on chip-making equipment and other high-tech products.
Washington marks the beginning of China’s major move on minerals, which Trump described as “shocking.”
“The United States has long exaggerated national security concerns and abused controls, adopting discriminatory practices against China,” reads one of seven infographics published by town newspaperthe official newspaper of the ruling Communist Party. The poster adds that Washington maintains a control list of more than 3,000 items, compared to 900 in Beijing’s catalog.
“The implementation of such export controls is consistent with international practice,” the first poster said, reiterating Beijing’s stance on the measures since their announcement.
Washington has had similar rules since the 1950s and has been using them in recent years to prevent foreign semiconductor companies from selling chips to China if they are made with American technology.
“Washington should not be surprised by China’s tit-for-tat,” said an editorial in the Global timesa tabloid owned by People’s Daily, which has often been the first to report on China’s next steps in trade disagreements.
“The sudden change in the business atmosphere took many by surprise, but that is not surprising,” the editorial continues.
“The direct trigger for this round of tension was Washington’s failure to deliver on promises, an all-too-familiar pattern.”
