No one can predict what the future has in store for America and how events will unfold, but it’s not looking good.
The Commerce Ministry in Beijing also said in a notice that it will impose more export controls on rare earths, which are materials used in high-tech products such as computer chips and electric vehicle batteries.
Included in the list of minerals subject to controls was samarium and its compounds, which are used in aerospace manufacturing and the defense sector. Another element called gadolinium is used in MRI scans.
China’s customs administration said it had suspended imports of chicken from some U.S. suppliers after detected furazolidone, a drug banned in China, in shipments from those companies.
Separately, it said had found high levels of mold in the sorghum and salmonella in poultry meat from some of the companies. The announcements affect one company exporting sorghum, C&D Inc., and four poultry companies.
Additionally, the Chinese government said it had added 27 firms to lists of companies subject to trade sanctions or export controls.
Among them, 16 are subject to a ban on the export of “dual-use” goods. High Point Aerotechnologies, a defense tech company, and Universal Logistics Holding, a publicly traded transportation and logistics company, were among those listed.
France’s Macron calls for suspension of investment in U.S. after tariffs
French President Emmanuel Macron called on Thursday for European companies to suspend planned investment in the United States after U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping global tariffs on American imports.
“Investments to come or investments announced in recent weeks should be suspended until things are clarified with the United States,” Macron said during a meeting with French industry representatives.
The comments come weeks after French shipping firm CMA CGM announced plans to invest $20 billion in the U.S. to build shipping logistics and terminals, a plan that was hailed by President Trump at the time, and mentioned again in his Wednesday speech unveiling the tariffs.
French electrical equipment supplier Schneider Electric said late last month it would invest $700 million in the country to support U.S. energy infrastructure to power AI growth.
Macron said no response to Trump’s tariffs had been ruled out yet and suggested using the anti-coercion mechanism, an EU instrument to protect the bloc’s trade, and responses targeting digital services and financing mechanisms of the U.S. economy.
Macron added that the response to the reciprocal tariffs would be “more powerful” than its earlier retaliation to U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs.
Macron called the tariffs “brutal and unfounded” and a shock for international trade, and that Europe must respond “industry by industry”.