President Donald Trump is threatening punitive tariffs and canceling a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping due to a new Chinese rare earth minerals move.

China has leveraged its control of the sector in trade talks with the U.S. by threatening a disruptive global shortage of the critically-needed minerals.

After tightening restrictions during the tariff tit-for-tat in April, China has further amped up controls on the minerals, which are essential for the tech and auto industries.…