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The former US president’s newest ultimatum to enforce an extra complete levy on Chinese goods has been called a “classic case” of American hypocrisy, as stated by the Beijing administration.

A Commerce Ministry spokesperson also stated that China could introduce its own unspecified “responsive actions” if the White House occupant carries out his threat, adding that the country was “not afraid” of a looming commercial battle.

On Friday, Trump responded at Beijing’s move to tighten its policies for foreign shipments of rare earths, alleging the Chinese leadership of “adopting a confrontational stance” and attempting to hold the international market “under its control”.

He also threatened to pull out of a arranged talks with Beijing’s head of state Xi Jinping, which was arranged for a summit in Seoul in the coming weeks.

The former president’s remarks on last Friday rattled stock exchanges, with the benchmark US stock index closing down over two and a half percent, marking its biggest drop since earlier this year.

These statements revived fears of a trade war between the US and China.

In May, the both nations had agreed to drop significant levies on each other’s imports, which had led to concerns of trade halting between the economic powers.

As a result, United States levies on Chinese imports subject to an additional thirty percent tariff compared with the start of the year, while American products entering the Chinese market incur a import levy.

The most recent comments from China – issued by the Commerce Ministry in the form of official answers to press queries – reflected rhetoric from the height of the recent trade conflict.

Officials denounced American limits on exports on semiconductors and chips while defending China’s own export controls on rare earth minerals as “normal actions” to ensure domestic safety and that of every country.

The spokesperson stated that for “a long time”, the America had “overstretched the concept of domestic safety, misused export control measures and “implemented” biased policies against Beijing.

“Resorting to import duty warnings is not the correct approach to interact with China,” the official commented.

“The nation’s view” on a tariff war has always been unchanging: we do not want one, but we are fearless of one.”

The previous week, the Chinese government announced it was strengthening foreign shipment restrictions on key elements and additional substances essential to advanced tech manufacturing.

This move was regarded as a key move, as the state refines about 90% of the global rare earth supply, which are used in goods such as photovoltaic modules and mobile phones.

The recent comments from both governments are being seen by some as a means of enhancing bargaining power in preparation for upcoming negotiations.

Remains uncertain whether a talks between Donald Trump and China’s leader, planned at a high-level meeting in South Korea before month’s end, will still proceed.