Market Voices: Trump slams China on rare earths, AstraZeneca, UPS

[US tariff on China import trade war cargo shipping container]

_Seeking Alpha's roundup of statements, announcements, and remarks that could impact markets, sectors, or individual stocks. _

* President Trump slammed China for rolling out new export restrictions on rare earth elements, which are used in a wide range of technologies and devices.

In a long post on Truth Social, Trump said China was becoming "very hostile," and that the new export controls "would make life difficult for virtually every country in the world, especially for China."

"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," Trump said in his post. [https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115350455734003647]

Trump said he has not yet discussed the matter with China's President Xi, whom he's scheduled to meet with in two weeks, adding that "now there seems to be no reason to do so."

In response to the new export controls, Trump said his administration was "calculating" a "massive" tariff increase on Chinese goods. "There are many other countermeasures that are, likewise, under serious consideration," Trump added.

The Trump administration has been particularly keen on reducing America's reliance on China for rare earths, with the U.S. government recently taking equity stakes in MP Materials (MP [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MP]), Trilogy Metals (TMQ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TMQ]), and Lithium Americas (LAC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/LAC]).

* U.K. drugmaker AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/AZN]) has reportedly reached a deal with the Trump administration that will help lower the costs of its drugs for American consumers.

The White House is expected to announce the deal on Friday, according to Bloomberg [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-10/astrazeneca-is-said-to-reach-landmark-drug-price-deal-with-trump?srnd=homepage-americas&sref=Hh2p8mzs].

Last month, Pfizer (PFE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/PFE]) announced it had reached a deal [https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-reaches-landmark-agreement-us-government-lower-drug] with the Trump administration that includes offering many of its medications at discounted prices directly to consumers through a new government website called TrumpRx.gov.

* UPS (NYSE:UPS [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/UPS]) said that it has begun "disposing" of some of the U.S-bound packages piling up in its warehouses that have been unable to clear the Trump administration's new customs requirements, according to NBC News [https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/ups-delay-customs-tariffs-packages-destroyed-rcna236607].

“Because of changes to U.S. import regulations, we are seeing many packages that are unable to clear customs due to missing or incomplete information about the shipment required for customs clearance,” UPS said in a statement to NBC.

UPS said that if it can't get the necessary information for customs, it has the option of sending the package back to the sender at their expense. In cases where "the customer does not respond and the package cannot be cleared for delivery, disposing of the shipment is in compliance with U.S. customs regulations."

"We continue to work to bridge the gap of understanding tied to the new requirements and, as always, remain committed to serving our customers," UPS added.

MORE ON ASTRAZENECA, UPS, ETC.

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