The trade war between China and the United States is heating up after China imposed export restrictions on several more rare earth elements that are important for the technology sector. This is an action to put pressure on President Trump to reverse several high tariffs imposed on China.
However, China's action was retaliated by Trump with an additional tariff of 100% on the current tariff. According to Trump, China's action to block exports of rare earth elements is unfair and this new tariff will be enforced starting November 1.
He also threatened to impose export controls on important and critical software made in the United States to China. Trump did not specify what is meant by important and critical software, but it could be operating systems such as Android and Windows as well as systems important to businesses such as Oracle. All of which are important to the smart device industry and Chinese businesses.
The Android and Windows license restrictions have already been imposed on Huawei, causing the Chinese technology giant to develop HarmonyOS as an alternative. At the same time, there have been rumors lately that all Chinese smartphone companies are ready to launch their own operating systems in preparation for being subject to the same action as Huawei.
