The US and China have agreed to a “framework” aimed at easing economic tensions and extending the trade ceasefire reached by the two largest economies in the world last month, officials from both countries said Tuesday.
After two days of marathon negotiations in London, top economic officials from the US and China are expected to present a new framework to their leaders, President Trump and President Xi Jinping, for final approval.
The agreement aims to solidify the terms of the deal that the US and China reached in Switzerland in May, and to unravel it in recent weeks. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who was part of the negotiation team, said US concerns over China's restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnet exports have been resolved.
“We've reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus,” Lutnick told reporters in London.
He added that Trump and Xi will be explained about the contract before it comes into effect.
“They were focused on trying to make what President XI told President Trump,” Rutnick said. “I think there was an extra drive to get things done from both sides.”
US trade representative Jamieson Greer, who participated in the discussion, said the focus is also on ensuring compliance with the agreements agreed in Geneva on rare earth mineral exports and tariffs. He said the two will remain in touch on a regular basis as they tried to overcome the economic inconsistency.
According to Chinese national media, China's deputy commerce minister Li Chenggang said the consultation was professional, reasonable, substantive and straightforward.
The Treasury Department, Scott Bescent, who led the American delegation, left Congress late Tuesday and returned to Washington on Wednesday for a Congressional hearing. On the Chinese side, negotiations were led by his Lifeng, the deputy prime minister in charge of economic policy.
Both sides have sought a solution to the painful economic measures they have imposed on each other in recent months. After Trump formulated tariffs on Chinese products in April, Beijing cracked down on exports of critical minerals and magnets, threatening to shut down operations by American manufacturers, defense contractors and others.
At a meeting in Geneva last month, US and Chinese officials agreed to roll back tariffs and other retaliatory measures. But Trump administration officials were disappointed when China's shipping of rare earth minerals and the magnets made with them remained rare, and they accused China of violating the agreement in Geneva.
US authorities responded by closing exports of American products and technologies to China, including software for the manufacture of semiconductors, gases such as ethane and butane, and software for the manufacture of nuclear and aerospace components. US authorities also proposed to ban Chinese students from registering with the United States.
The Chinese government denied that its rare earth measures target the US, saying that American officials were those who violated the agreement in Geneva.
This week, officials met at Lancaster House in London, trying to recover the ceasefire. Trump came a few days after making a 90-minute call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. This was the first time two heads of states spoke in person since Trump took office in January.
