US President Donald Trump announced a 100% tariff on China on Friday, sending the price of Bitcoin (BTC) reeling below $110,000 at this writing.
Trump said the tariffs were in response to China attempting to place export restrictions on rare earth minerals, which are crucial for creating computer chips. Trump wrote on Truth Social:
“It has just been learned that China has taken an extraordinarily aggressive position on Trade in sending an extremely hostile letter to the World, stating that they were going to, effective November 1, 2025, impose large-scale Export Controls on virtually every product they make.”
Trump’s first tariff announcements in April sent shockwaves through crypto markets and sparked fears of a recession.
Tariff pressure and chip access
Rare earth elements are essential for semiconductor production. By threatening to tighten access to critical materials, China strains the global hardware pipeline, including for AI, high-performance computing and crypto mining infrastructure.
Meanwhile, US measures targeting Chinese tech exports and investment are part of a broader push to curb dependency on foreign manufacturing.
Broader crypto markets turned red following the tariff announcement, with Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL) extending losses alongside Bitcoin, down 12% and 14%, respectively, at the time of writing.
The global crypto market capitalization is at $3.64 trillion at this writing, with an 11.80% decrease over the last 24 hours.
Related: The 2025 US-China trade war
Additional reporting by Ana Paula Pereira. This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.
