US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to cancel a planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, accusing Beijing of “hostile” trade behaviour after it further expanded export controls on rare earth elements.

In a social media post, Trump said he had been “surprised” by China’s move, which he claimed would “clog markets” and hurt global production across industries.

“There is no way that China should be allowed to hold the world ‘captive,’” he wrote, calling the move “sinister and hostile”.

Trump said he was scheduled to meet Xi in two weeks at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea, and that the talks may now be off.

“I was to meet President Xi in two weeks … but now there seems to be no reason to do so,” he said, warning that the US had “much stronger” monopoly positions – “far more reaching that China’s”.

“I have just not chosen to use them, there was never a reason for me to do so — UNTIL NOW!”, Trump added.