United States President Donald Trump believes China must make the first move to resolve trade tensions between their countries, the White House has said, as his administration turns its attention toward possible tariffs on critical minerals.

In a statement delivered hours before Trump ordered a national security review of imports of rare earths and other minerals on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt quoted the US president as saying that “the ball is in China’s court”.

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“China needs to make a deal with us, we don’t have to make a deal with them,” Leavitt told a media briefing in remarks that she said came directly from Trump.

“There’s no difference between China and any other country except that they are much larger. And China wants what we have – every country wants what we have – the American consumer. Or to put it another way, they need our money,” Leavitt said, adding that Trump had made it “quite clear” that he is open to a trade deal with China.

In his executive order, Trump directed US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to launch a national security probe under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, which his administration has previously used to scrutinise imports of copper, lumber, steel and aluminium.

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“The United States manufacturing and defense industrial bases remain dependent on foreign sources for processed critical mineral products,” Trump said in the order.

“Many of these foreign sources are at risk of serious, sustained, and long-term supply chain shocks.  Should the United States lose access to processed critical minerals from foreign sources, the United States commercial and defense manufacturing base for derivative products could face significant shortages and an inability to meet demand.”

While Trump’s order did not specifically mention China, the country is the biggest producer of 30 of the 50 minerals considered critical by the US Geological Survey.

Trump earlier on Tuesday accused China of reneging on a deal with US aircraft manufacturer Boeing, following a report by Bloomberg that Beijing had directed Chinese airlines to stop taking deliveries of Boeing planes.

Boeing shares fell 2.36 percent after the report, which cited “people familiar with the matter”. Boeing and Chinese authorities have not confirmed or commented on the report.

“They just reneged on the big Boeing deal, saying that they will ‘not take possession’ of fully committed to aircraft,” Trump said on Truth Social.

The US and China have been locked in an escalating trade war since Trump’s return to the White House.

Despite pausing most of his “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of trading partners, Trump has ramped up import taxes on most Chinese goods to 145 percent.

China has, in turn, hit US exports with a 125 percent tariff.

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In the latest salvo from China on Wednesday, Hong Kong’s postal service said it would stop carrying US-bound mail in response to the tariffs.

“The US is unreasonable, bullying and imposing tariffs abusively. Hongkong Post will definitely not collect any so-called tariffs on behalf of the US and will suspend the acceptance of postal items containing goods destined to the US,” Hong Kong Post said in a statement.

It added that it would stop taking surface mail with immediate effect and stop accepting airmail from April 27.

China has said that it opposes protectionism but it is willing to “fight to the end” if the US continues to escalate its trade salvoes.

In an op-ed published in Vietnam’s Nhan Dan newspaper on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that trade wars “yield no winners” and protectionism “offers no solutions”.

“There is a need to resolutely protect the multilateral trading system, sustain the stability of global production and supply chains, and maintain an open and cooperative international environment,” Xi said in the op-ed, which was published to coincide with the Chinese leader beginning a five-day tour of Southeast Asia.