<h1>US China trade tensions-export controls on rare earths and tariff threats drove market volatility, later eased by softer rhetoric.</h1> China's export controls on rare earths and a US presidential threat to raise tariffs interacted to heighten trade tension, causing immediate market volatility; subsequent conciliatory US rhetoric tempered some losses. Equity indices and commodity prices moved with changes in rhetoric, while China's overall export growth contrasted with sustained double digit declines in shipments to the US, signalling shifts in trade patterns and supply chain exposure.