A breakthrough in trade negotiations has been marked by the announcement by the US president Trump of a rare earth supply agreement with China. Provisions for Chinese students studying in the US are also included in the agreement.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump reported that trade talks with China were making headway. He highlighted a new deal that would see Beijing provide the largest economy in the world with “magnets, and any necessary rare earths.”
China is the world’s largest source of rare earth elements, which are essential for many high-tech businesses. The two economic heavyweights’ trade tensions may be defusing as a result of the accord.
The agreement comes after two days of negotiations in London during which shipments of rare earth elements were a key source of concern. According to Trump, the deal also included a clause for Chinese students to continue their education at US universities, subject to final approval by both him and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Following two days of negotiations in the British capital that concluded late Tuesday, the statement was made. The conversations seemed to be centered on figuring out how to settle disagreements over shipments of minerals and technology that had upended a tenuous trade truce that was signed in Geneva last month.
At first, it wasn’t apparent if there had been any movement on the deeper disagreements about China’s significant trade imbalance with the US.
Since then, the US and China have been at odds over rare earth minerals, which are essential raw materials for automakers and other industries, Chinese students attending US institutions, and sophisticated semiconductors that drive artificial intelligence.
Last week, Trump tried to defuse the situation by speaking with Xi over the phone.
A framework for putting the Geneva consensus into practice has been agreed upon in principle by the two parties, according to Li Chenggang, China’s foreign trade representative and deputy minister of commerce.
Source: DW News
