The Trump administration reached an agreement with China this week focused on rare earth exports to the U.S., building on previous talks between the two nations that eased tariffs on imports from Beijing.
“We had trade talks in Geneva towards moving toward the agreement in London. Part of the agreement was tariffs coming down and rare earth, rare earth magnets starting to flow back to the U.S.— they formed the core of our industrial base. They were not flowing as fast as previously agreed,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday on Fox Business “Mornings With Maria.”
The agreement was then signed earlier this week, which the administration is describing as a de-escalation of the U.S.-China trade war.
“I am confident now that we, as agreed, the magnets will flow. In the meantime, we had put countermeasures versus the Chinese in place. We had held back some, the vital supplies for them. So, what we’re seeing here is a de-escalation under President Trump’s leadership,” Bessent said.
Trump at a White House event on Thursday alluded to a new agreement, not mentioning rare earths but saying, “We just signed with China the other day.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick later told Bloomberg TV that the deal, which was struck in London, was signed earlier this week.
“The China deal, we inked the deal — you remember, we had a trip to Geneva and then that was being slow-played. We got back together in London and that deal was signed and sealed two days ago,” Lutnick said.
Lutnick also told Bloomberg that China will “deliver rare earths to us” and that afterwards the U.S. will “take down our countermeasures.”
The administration and China agreed to an additional understanding for a framework to implement the Geneva agreement. It’s about export controls, a White House official told The Hill.
Top U.S. and Chinese officials met in London earlier this month to finalize the trade truce, after Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke on the phone the week prior. The U.S. and China were negotiating a trade agreement since Trump imposed hefty reciprocal tariffs in April — including 145 percent on China — and brokered a temporary pause in the tariff hikes during a May meeting in Geneva.
China’s Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said in a statement the U.S. and China agreed on “further details of the framework” that was negotiated in the London and Geneva talks.
“China will, in accordance with the law, review and approve eligible export applications for controlled items. In turn, the United States will lift a series of restrictive measures it had imposed on China,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that since the London meeting, U.S. and Chinese officials have “maintained close communication” to reach this point.
China is a major minerals hub, both in terms of mining and processing. Sixty percent of rare earth elements come from China.
Rare earth elements refers to a specific group of materials that are only deposited in relatively small quantities and can be used in a variety of applications including electronics, health care and batteries.
Trump has long sought assistance from other countries on mineral supplies, including rare earths. In particular, he sought to condition military assistance to Ukraine on whether the country was willing to supply the U.S. with minerals and in March announced a deal related to rare earths.
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