Trump Weekly: U.S. threatens China with 100% tariff over rare earth controls

Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Trump with this weekly recap compiled by The Fly:

TARIFF ON CHINESE GOODS: U.S. President Donald Trump started the week saying he would impose an additional 100% tariff on China and export controls on “any and all critical software” beginning November 1, hours after threatening to cancel an upcoming meeting with the country’s leader, Xi Jinping, Bloomberg’s Jennifer Dlouhy reports.

In a post to Truth Social, President Donald Trump stated, “Some very strange things are happening in China! They are becoming very hostile, and sending letters to Countries throughout the World, that they want to impose Export Controls on each and every element of production having to do with Rare Earths, and virtually anything else they can think of, even if it’s not manufactured in China. Nobody has ever seen anything like this but, essentially, it would ‘clog’ the Markets, and make life difficult for virtually every Country in the World, especially for China. We have been contacted by other Countries who are extremely angry at this great Trade hostility, which came out of nowhere. Our relationship with China over the past six months has been a very good one, thereby making this move on Trade an even more surprising one. I have always felt that they’ve been lying in wait, and now, as usual, I have been proven right! There is no way that China should be allowed to hold the World ‘captive,’ but that seems to have been their plan for quite some time, starting with the ‘Magnets’ and, other Elements that they have quietly amassed into somewhat of a Monopoly position, a rather sinister and hostile move, to say the least. But the U.S. has Monopoly positions also, much stronger and more far reaching than China’s. I have just not chosen to use them, there was never a reason for me to do so – UNTIL NOW! The letter they sent is many pages long, and details, with great specificity, each and every Element that they want to withhold from other Nations. Things that were routine are no longer routine at all. I have not spoken to President Xi because there was no reason to do so. This was a real surprise, not only to me, but to all the Leaders of the Free World. I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so. The Chinese letters were especially inappropriate in that this was the Day that, after three thousand years of bedlam and fighting, there is PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. I wonder if that timing was coincidental? Dependent on what China says about the hostile ‘order’ that they have just put out, I will be forced, as President of the United States of America, to financially counter their move. For every Element that they have been able to monopolize, we have two. I never thought it would come to this but perhaps, as with all things, the time has come. Ultimately, though potentially painful, it will be a very good thing, in the end, for the U.S.A. One of the Policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America. There are many other countermeasures that are, likewise, under serious consideration. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

President Donald Trump also stated in a Truth Social post, “Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine! Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment. He doesn’t want Depression for his country, and neither do I. The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!! President DJT”

RARE EARTH: Chinese state media issued a seven-point rebuttal to U.S. calls for Beijing to pull back on its rare earth controls, Reuters reports. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer recently said the new rare earth export restrictions were “a global supply-chain power grab,” and said the country could prevent President Donald Trump’s threat to reimpose triple-digit tariffs by shelving the measures. Beijing maintains it notified Washington before the announcement and that the controls are consistent with measures in place in other major economies. The Fly notes that companies involved in the development and mining of rare earth minerals include Nova Minerals (NVA), Ioneer (IONR), Lynas Rare Earths (LYSCF), MP Materials (MP), Energy Fuels (UUUU), NioCorp (NB) and VanEck Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF (REMX).

GLP-1 DRUGS: President Donald Trump said in the Oval Office that the price of GLP-1 weight loss drugs will come down “pretty fast.” Trump noted his administration is negotiating for lower GLP-1 prices. Shares of Eli Lilly (LLY) were under pressure following the comments.

Cantor Fitzgerald keeps an Overweight rating and $925 price target on Eli Lilly. The White House / FDA joint media conference this afternoon saw the administration unveiled the first nine drugs selected to receive the new Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers, and notably, the company’s orforglipron was not included. The disclosure, though not yet finalized, also comes against the backdrop of vague and at times contradictory GLP-1 pricing commentary, Cantor added, including statements by Trump that the cost of GLP-1 drugs would come down “pretty fast.”

DEFENSE STOCKS: Shares of several defense names, including Lockheed Martin (LMT), RTX Corp. (RTX), General Dynamics (GD), Northrop Grumman (NOC), Boeing (BA), Kratos Defense (KTOS), and AeroVironment (AVAV), were sliding on Wednesday after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. is considering asking defense companies to do less buybacks. “I do think our defense companies are woefully behind in terms of deliveries. So, we may have to – as their biggest customer – may have to prod them to do a little more research, do a little few stock buybacks, which is really what got Boeing into trouble,” Bessent said during an interview with CNBC.

IVF ACCESSIBILITY: President Trump is expected to announce a proposal on Thursday aimed at expanding access to in vitro fertilization, marking the administration’s first formal action on the issue, The New York Times’ Caroline Kitchener and Tyler Pager report. The plan will outline an employer benefit option encouraging companies to offer IVF and infertility coverage alongside standard benefits like vision or dental, though participation will be voluntary and no federal subsidies are planned. Shares of Progyny (PGNY), which provides comprehensive coverage for preconception, fertility, adoption and surrogacy, jumped following the news.

CVS Health (CVS) announced it will support simpler access to more affordable fertility treatments for all Americans through its CVS Specialty Pharmacy and make it easier to pick up fertility medication at its 9,000 community pharmacy locations. CVS Specialty Pharmacy will be a core partner in the TrumpRx Fertility program. As the Trump Administration continues to establish more competitive prices for important medicines, the Administration has engaged with EMD Serono, manufacturer of Gonal-F an in-vitro fertilization drug to bring the price of the medicine down by 84%. The company said it anticipates the program will be available in January 2026. “Fertility medications often require special administration and high-touch expertise. We are proud to join the President to help make every step of the journey as simple as possible for families by providing nationwide access,” said Lucille Accetta, RPh, Senior Vice President and Chief Pharmacy Officer, CVS Health. “We are committed to being America’s most trusted health care company as we strive to continually improve affordability and access to medicine for families everywhere.

EMD Serono, the healthcare business of Merck KGaA (MKGAY) in the U.S. and Canada, and President Donald Trump’s administration announced an agreement to expand access to the company’s portfolio of in vitro fertilization therapies for the more than 10 million American women struggling to have a baby.

“As part of the agreement, EMD Serono will offer Direct-to-Consumer sales of its complete portfolio of IVF therapies, including Gonal-f, Ovidrel, and Cetrotide, to eligible patients with prescriptions at significantly reduced prices. When all three therapies are used in a typical IVF protocol, patients will access an 84% discount off list prices. EMD Serono will participate in the TrumpRx.gov direct purchasing platform, which will go live in January 2026. Patients will continue to be able to access all EMD Serono’s fertility medicines through the company’s existing pharmacy network and through an expanded network in January 2026. This public-private partnership is fully aligned with the White House Executive Order to increase affordable access to IVF treatments. President Trump and members of his Administration held a first-of-its-kind Fertility event at the White House today to confirm EMD Serono voluntarily met all requests set out in the Executive Order. EMD Serono also entered an agreement with the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to exclude its pharmaceutical products and ingredients from Section 232 tariffs, provided EMD Serono invests in future biopharmaceutical manufacturing and research in the United States,” the company stated.

TARIFFS ON SPAIN: U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened trade penalties, including potential tariffs, against Spain, saying he is not happy with the European nation’s refusal to increase defense spending to 5% and calling such a move disrespectful to NATO, Reuters’ Steve Holland and Nandita Bose report. “I’m very unhappy with Spain. They’re the only country that didn’t raise their number up to 5%… so I’m not happy with Spain,” the president told reporters at the White House. “I was thinking of giving them trade punishment through tariffs because of what they did, and I think I may do that,” he added.