The American Negotiating Team Is Looking for More Trade-Ways Between the U.S. and China: The Case of Rare Earths
The AmericanNegotiating team has continued to push for more purchases of American goods from China, which was part of a Phase One trade deal struck with China during Trump’s first term.
China halted the export of rare earths, a key component in the refining of which it has a near monopoly, in response to U.S. tariffs. Beijing has been quietly restricting the export of rare earths to the U.S. and European Union since 2024 but in recent weeks has cut off even more minerals. Chinese customs data shows rare earths exports are down more than 20% compared to the same period last year.
The U.S. plans to revoking some visas for Chinese students because of the new export controls it announced on high-end chip technology.
On the call, Mr. Xi warned that the leaders of the United States and China needed to “steer clear of various disturbances or even sabotage,” seemingly a reference to the idea that critics of China in Mr. Trump’s government had driven some of these efforts without his knowledge. But according to one person familiar with the efforts, the actions were done with Mr. Trump’s knowledge or at his direction.
The American delegation includes the Commerce Secretary, who overseas the export controls. He Lifeng is the Chinese vice premier who is in charge of economic policy.
The U.K. government is not involved in the talks, which are taking place in the United States. “We have always been clear that a trade war is not in anyone’s best interests, so we welcome these talks,” the statement said.
Wang Wentao, the China’s commerce minister, spoke to Jonathan Reynolds, the Britain’s business secretary. The commerce ministry of China said that Wang wanted to see more cooperation between Britain and China on finance and sustainable development, and he was in favor of the multilateral trading system.
The U.S. has higher tariffs for goods from China than other countries. The U.S. cut its base tariffs on goods from China to 30%, while China cut tariffs to 10%.
China is willing to set up an expedited green channel for companies who need rare earths, but it won’t get rid of its powerful hold on the world’s supply.
Trade talks between the US and China: warnings from the Chatham House think-tank on China’s role in a world power vacuum
After a tentative truce in Geneva, relations between the two countries deteriorated and each accused the other of violating the agreement.
Yu Jie, senior research fellow on China at London’s Chatham House international affairs think-tank, warns that we “should not hold our breath for any major progress” following the talks, with both sides unlikely to offer any further tariff reductions. “We’re now into deep water of trade negotiations between Beijing and Washington. China is aware of the importance of the rare earth export controls. On the other side of the equation, the US wants to slow down China’s technological progress.
Yu says the two sides will have to talk through some of these thornier sticking points over the next few days. “I’m expecting the talks to go on all day,” he said. He told reporters the talks were “going well” and “we’re spending lots of time together.” The Chinese delegation is in London all week and talks could go on beyond Tuesday.
President Trump told reporters on Monday that he was getting good reports from the talks. We are doing well with China. China’s not easy,” Trump said.
The second round of tariff negotiations between the US and China will be held at the Lancaster House in the U.K. Investors and world leaders are watching these talks closely to see if they can help thwart the prospect of a deepening trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
