Trump, due to meet Xi in about three weeks in South Korea, complained on social media about what he called China's plans to hold the global economy hostage after China dramatically expanded its rare earths export controls on Thursday.

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He said there was no reason to hold the meeting with Xi that he had previously announced. Beijing had never publicly confirmed the meeting between the leaders.

Trump also threatened a "massive" increase in tariffs on U.S. imports from China. The step could revive a destabilizing tit-for-tat trade war that Washington and Beijing paused amid painstaking diplomacy earlier this year.

Trump's unexpected broadside had an immediate impact on U.S. stock prices, with the benchmark S&P 500 Index (.SPX), opens new tab sliding by 2% after his social media post. The remarks sent investors into the safe haven of U.S. Treasury securities, sending yields on those assets lower, as well as into gold. The U.S. dollar weakened against a basket of foreign currencies.