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Trump’s newest ultimatum to impose an additional complete levy on items imported from China has been described as a “classic case” of American hypocrisy, per the Beijing administration.

A official from China’s Commerce Ministry also stated that China could introduce its own unrevealed “retaliatory steps” if the US President carries out his threat, emphasizing that the country was “fearless” of a potential commercial battle.

On Friday, Trump hit back at Beijing’s move to reinforce its rules for exports of critical elements, charging Beijing of “adopting a confrontational stance” and attempting to hold the world “under its control”.

He also threatened to pull out of a scheduled talks with China’s President Xi, which was expected to take place during a conference in Seoul in the coming weeks.

Trump’s comments on that day rattled global markets, with the benchmark US stock index falling by over two and a half percent, marking its steepest fall since April.

These statements revived concerns of a commercial dispute between the two economic giants.

This past spring, the two sides had reached an agreement to drop high import duties on each other’s products, which had raised the prospect of bilateral trade stopping between the two nations.

This left, US tariffs on Chinese imports facing an added import tax compared with the year’s onset, while items from the United States entering the Chinese market incur a import levy.

China’s latest remarks – released by the Commerce Ministry in the format of formal replies to press queries – echoed rhetoric from the height of the ongoing trade dispute.

The remarks condemned American limits on exports on electronic components while defending Beijing’s export controls on key elements as “normal actions” to ensure domestic safety and that of every country.

The official remarked that for “a long time”, the America had “overstretched the concept of national security, misused foreign shipment regulations and “adopted discriminatory practices against Beijing.

“Using” trade levy ultimatums is not the correct approach to engage with Beijing,” their representative stated.

“Beijing’s stance” on a tariff war has always been steady: we do not want one, but we are not afraid of one.”

Last week, Beijing revealed it was reinforcing foreign shipment restrictions on rare earths and further resources essential to advanced tech manufacturing.

This was seen as a significant step, as the state handles about the vast majority of the global rare earth supply, which are utilized in goods such as photovoltaic modules and mobile phones.

Latest statements from the US and China are being viewed by analysts as a means of strengthening positions prior to future trade talks.

Remains uncertain whether a talks between Donald Trump and China’s leader, planned at a conference in South Korea in the coming weeks, will take place as planned.