Trump proclaimes US-China trade deal ‘is done’

US President Donald Trump has said a deal with China “is done” after 48 hours of negotiations between top officials in London. Trump said that, conditional on final agreement from President Xi Jinping and himself, the US will get the essential rare earth elements, while Chinese students can take up their places at American colleges. Earlier, the US and China said they had reached a tentative agreement on a framework for reducing trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.

Last month, Washington and Beijing reached a temporary agreement over trade tariffs but each country has since claimed the other side breached the deal. Posting on his Truth Social platform the president declared that : “Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval with President Xi and me.

“Full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China. Likewise, we will provide to China what was agreed to, including Chinese students using our colleges and universities (which has always been good with me!).”

Chinese exports of rare earth minerals, which are crucial for modern technology, were high on the agenda of the meeting in London.

Following the talks, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the deal between the two countries should result in restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnets being resolved.

The US has criticised China, saying it 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).

Lutnick told reporters that “We have reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus.

“Once the presidents approve it, we will then seek to implement it.” Another round of discussions comes after a phone call between Donald Trump and China’s leader Xi Jinping last week which the US President labeled as a “very good talk”.

China’s Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang said “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.”

When Trump declared comprehensive tariffs on imported goods from a number of countries earlier this year, China was the  most affected country. Beijing responded with its own increased rates on US imports, and this led to escalating tit-for-tat responses that reached at 145%.

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