The Trump administration is considering a plan to curb a dizzying array of software-powered exports to China, from laptops to jet engines, to retaliate against Beijing's latest round of rare earth export restrictions, according to a US official and three people briefed by US authorities.

While the plan is not the only option on the table, it would make good on President Donald Trump's threat earlier in October to bar "critical software" exports to China by restricting global shipments of items that contain US software or were produced using US software.

On October 10, Trump said in a social media post that he would impose additional tariffs of 100 per cent on China's US-bound shipments, along with new export controls on "any and all critical software" by November 1 without further detail

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