Washington, 10 October 2025 (dpa/MIA) - US President Donald Trump has called into question his planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, citing the ongoing trade conflict.

Trump was supposed to meet Xi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which begins at the end of October, "but now there seems to be no reason to do so," Trump wrote Friday on his Truth Social platform.

Trump justified his statement by saying that China had sent "letters to Countries around the World" announcing export restrictions on rare earths and other materials.

This "came out of nowhere," he said, and could paralyse global trade and harm many countries. The People's Republic is becoming increasingly "hostile," he added.

The US president wrote that he had always felt that China was "lying in wait," and that he had been proven right "as usual."

Trump said he would now be forced to "financially counter" Beijing's move to protect the United States and other countries, and that his administration is considering "a massive increase" of tariffs on imported Chinese products.

There is currently a pause in the tariff dispute between China and the US, which escalated earlier this year. In April, both countries imposed surcharges of more than 100% on imports from the other country.

China on Thursday said it was expanding its export restrictions on rare earths, which are critical to US industry.

According to the announcements by the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing, technologies and expertise for the extraction and processing of rare earths may in future only be shared with approval.

For the first time, products outside China that contain rare earths from China or that are manufactured using Chinese processes are also covered.

Companies exporting such goods to other countries will need to apply for approval from the Chinese authorities from Dec. 1, the ministry said.

The ministry also announced export limits on five additional rare earths, bringing the total number of affected metals to 12. New restrictions on certain battery materials and graphite products are also set to take effect on Nov. 8.

China is the world's largest producer of rare earths, which are essential components in a wide variety of modern devices.

Beijing had already limited the export of certain rare earths and magnet products in April, amid the trade dispute with Washington.