President Donald Trump said Friday he would impose a 100% tariff on China “over and above any Tariff they are currently paying” effective November 1 – massively escalating his trade war amid a heated dispute over export controls on rare earths.

Oil tanker operator DHT Holdings said on Monday that its fleet does not fall under the scope of China's new special port fees targeting U.S.-linked vessels.

Now, Trump’s Friday announcement, which includes plans to increase tariffs on China to 130% and impose U.S. software export controls next month, comes as a “surprise,” Slok said on Saturday. The tariff hike threat comes after months of seemingly reduced trade tensions between the countries.

China has slapped fees on U.S. ships for docking at its ports, in retaliation for similar charges imposed by Washington on Chinese ships.

Taiwan has labelled new spying accusations by China as fake news after Chinese state television aired a programme showing a Taiwanese academic arrested in China on national security grounds at a time of heightened Taipei-Beijing tensions.

Some very strange things are happening in China!” Trump posted, hinting that he’ll cancel his upcoming talk with Xi Jinping.

China said the US should stop threatening it with higher tariffs and urged further negotiations to resolve outstanding trade issues, adding it will not hesitate to retaliate should Washington persist in its measures against Beijing.