To justify his threat of a 100 per cent tariff on imports from China, US President Donald Trump framed China’s tightening of its export controls on rare earths as “hostile”. However, Beijing’s expanded rules are a direct and reasonable response to the Trump administration’s relentless campaign of ratcheting up restrictions on Chinese companies and exports.
On September 12, just two days before US-China trade talks in Madrid, Spain, the US blacklisted 23 Chinese institutions.
On September 25,…