USA and China say they have agreed in principle to a framework for de-escalating trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies, during two days of negotiations in London, ending on Tuesday.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the deal should result in restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnets being resolved, reports BBC. Chinese exports of rare earth minerals, which are crucial for modern technology, were high on the agenda of the meetings.
The US has said China has been slow to release exports of rare earth metals and magnets which are essential for manufacturing everything from smartphones to electric vehicles. Meanwhile, Washington has restricted China’s access to US goods such as semiconductors and other related technologies linked to artificial intelligence (AI). “The two sides have, in principle, reached a framework for implementing the consensus reached by the two heads of state during the phone call on June 5th and the consensus reached at the Geneva meeting,” China’s Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang said.
The new round of negotiations followed a phone call between Donald Trump and China’s leader Xi Jinping last week which the US President described as a “very good talk”. In May, talks held in Switzerland led to a temporary truce that Trump called a “total reset”. It brought US tariffs on Chinese products down to 30%, while Beijing slashed levies on US imports to 10% and promised to lift barriers on critical mineral exports. It gave both sides a 90-day deadline to try to reach a trade deal.
But the US and China have since claimed breaches on non-tariff pledges, with Beijing saying US violations of the agreement included stopping sales of computer chip design software to Chinese companies and cancelling visas for Chinese students.