With the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade conflict temporarily on hold, all eyes have shifted to China, where tensions are escalating following President Donald Trump’s newly implemented 10% tariffs on Chinese imports.
In response, Beijing has imposed its own tariffs on U.S. goods and launched an antitrust investigation into Google, signaling a potential new chapter in the ongoing U.S.-China trade standoff.
President Trump downplayed concerns of an immediate trade war, suggesting that ongoing negotiations could still bring about a resolution.
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“We’ll have some good meetings with China. We have meetings planned. We’ll see what happens. But that was just an opening salvo. If we can’t make a deal with China, then the tariffs will be very, very substantial,” Trump stated on Monday.
While Trump framed his tariffs as a strategic maneuver, China wasted no time in hitting back.
In a direct counterpunch to Trump’s tariff strategy, China has announced a 15% tariff on U.S. coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) and a 10% tariff on U.S. crude oil, agricultural machinery, and vehicles (including cars and trucks)
While these measures are largely symbolic, experts suggest their economic impact on the U.S. may be limited. China already restricts many American imports, and when it comes to oil, Beijing has increasingly relied on Russia, which now supplies a record amount of crude to China, replacing imports from the U.S. and other countries.
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However, the real power move from China may come in the form of export controls on rare earth minerals—a crucial resource for weapons systems, electronics, and everyday consumer goods like cell phones. Given that China controls 80% of the global supply of rare earth materials, this step has been widely viewed as China’s “nuclear option” in economic warfare.
In a further escalation, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has opened an antitrust investigation into Google, just minutes after Trump’s 10% tariffs went into effect.
While Beijing did not explicitly link the investigation to the tariffs, the timing suggests that the probe is a direct countermeasure. The move targets Google’s Android operating system, which dominates the Chinese smartphone market despite Google’s search services being blocked in the country. Chinese manufacturers, including Huawei, Xiaomi, and Oppo, have long expressed concerns about Google’s business practices, claiming that the company exerts too much control over app stores and software updates.
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If the antitrust probe results in regulatory action, it could disrupt Google’s partnerships with China’s largest tech companies, potentially forcing Google to make concessions or face restrictions on its Android services in one of the world’s largest smartphone markets.
Amid China’s countermeasures, White House trade officials remain focused on their core argument: cracking down on fentanyl smuggling from China.
For now, President Trump does not have a scheduled call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, though White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt confirmed that a call will happen “soon.”
However, the administration is expected to engage with Chinese representatives within the next 24 hours, which could mean that lower-level officials from both governments will handle initial discussions before any direct engagement between Trump and Xi.
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