US President Donald Trump has hinted at imposing hefty tariffs on China if it fails to supply rare earth magnets to the US. These magnets are crucial for industries like automotive, electronics, and defense.

President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that China has to give the United States magnets or "we have to charge them 200% tariff or something" amid a trade dispute between the two nations. China is increasingly sensitive about rare earths and its control over supply,

Last week, China's coast guard mounted what the Philippines called an "unusual" show of force at Second Thomas Shoal, a hotly disputed submerged reef in the Spratly Islands where Manila maintains a small outpost in the form of the rusting warship BRP Sierra Madre, grounded there in 1999 to anchor its territorial claim.

Lee, who is now South Korea’s president, will put that balancing act to the test Monday when he and Trump meet for the first time in Washington​.

"I'd like to meet him this year," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office as he welcomed South Korea's new president, Lee Jae Myung, to the White House for the first time. "I look forward to meeting with Kim Jong Un in the appropriate future.