An electronic display board shows the Hang Seng Index at Exchange Square in Hong Kong on April 7, 2025. Vernon Yuen/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Major stocks markets across Asia Pacific region sank Monday amid mounting fears of a renewed trade war between the world’s two largest economies, after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose new triple-digit tariffs on Chinese imports.

Trump’s threat followed Beijing’s tightening of its control on rare earths, a group of critical minerals essential in the production of a wide range of electronics, automobiles and semiconductors.

Those restrictions came after the US introduced a slew of its own export controls targeting China in late September, despite the two sides seemingly making progress in trade talks over the summer.

China’s sweeping n

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