Bitcoin and Ethereum plummet after Trump slaps additional 100% tariffs on China
- Last updated: October 11, 2025 | 15:08
Two major cryptocurrencies have crashed after Donald Trump imposed 100 per cent tariffs on “any and all critical software” from China, as trade tensions continue to escalate between the two countries.
Bitcoin and Ethereum both saw record liquidations as investors reacted to fears over a trade war, which saw many crypto investors move their money to stablecoins or safer assets.
In the last 24 hours, Bloomberg reports that bets worth more than $19bn have been wiped out, with Trump’s announcement on X sparking a decline of more than 12 per cent in Bitcoin.
The president added that he was imposing the tariffs because of export controls placed on rare earths by China.
He wrote: "Based on the fact that China has taken this unprecedented position, and speaking only for the USA, and not other nations who were similarly threatened, starting November 1st, 2025 (or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China), the United States of America will impose a tariff of 100% on China, over and above any tariff that they are currently paying.
"It is impossible to believe that China would have taken such an action, but they have, and the rest is history. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
Earlier, President Donald Trump sent the market tumbling while escalating his trade war with China and threatening a 100 percent tariff “over and above” current rates for Beijing.
The S&P 500 dropped 2.71 per cent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped about 878 points and the NASDAQ Composite slid 3.58 per cent by the Wall Street closing bell at 4 p.m. ET on Friday.
Stocks had been dropping all day after Trump announced in a lengthy Truth Social post mid-morning a “massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products,” to “financially counter” the country’s new export controls on rare earth minerals.
“Some very strange things are happening in China!” Trump said. “They are becoming very hostile, and sending letters to Countries throughout the World, that they want to impose Export Controls on each and every element of production having to do with Rare Earths, and virtually anything else they can think of, even if it’s not manufactured in China.”
In a Truth Social post shortly before 5pm ET (1am on Sunday in UAE) on Friday, Trump announced the whopping 100 per cent tax, which would be “over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying,” as well as American export controls on “any and all critical software” — both of which would begin on November 1, “or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China.”
The Independent has reached out to the White House for more details on the tariff increase.
China’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Thursday overseas exporters need to get an export licence for items that contain more than 0.1 per cent of rare earths from China or are manufactured using the country’s rare earth extraction or refining technology to “safeguard national security and interests.”
Trump said on Friday morning Washington’s relationship with Beijing had been “very good” over the last six months, “thereby making this move on Trade an even more surprising one.”
Tensions between the two nations reached a boiling point in April when Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on both enemies and allies, hitting China hard with a 34 per cent tariff on imported goods.
China then retaliated with tariffs on imported American goods, and the two countries entered a tit-for-tat tariff war, climbing well beyond 100 per cent levies on imported goods from each nation.
Things cooled down in May when Washington brought tariffs on imported Chinese goods down to 30 per cent, and Beijing set just a 10 per cent tariff on imported American goods.
The Independent has reached out to the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.
Trump also said on Friday morning he was supposed to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in two weeks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea, “but now there seems to be no reason to do so.”
The president later told reporters that he hasn’t cancelled his meeting with Xi yet.
“I don't know that we're going to have it, but I'm going to be there regardless. So I would assume we might have it,” he said.
The Independent