Trump says China deal done, Beijing to supply rare earths

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump touted ties with China as “excellent” on Wednesday, saying the superpowers reached a deal after two days of talks aimed at preserving a truce in their damaging trade war.

Trump said on his Truth Social platform that China would supply rare earth minerals and magnets — vital elements for US industries — while Washington would allow Chinese students to remain in US universities. His post came hours after top US and Chinese negotiators announced a “framework” agreement late Tuesday following two days of marathon talks in London.

“Our deal with China is done,” Trump wrote, adding that the agreement was still “subject to final approval with President Xi (Jinping) and me.”

“President XI and I are going to work closely together to open up China to American Trade,” he said in a second post. “This would be a great WIN for both countries!!!”

US stock markets showed little enthusiasm despite Trump’s latest statements, with the broad-based S&P 500 and the Dow flat while the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged higher in morning deals.

The two sides had agreed to reduce their tit-for-tat, triple-digit tariffs during talks in Geneva last month, but cracks appeared in the detente after Trump accused China of violating the deal.

Washington was concerned at slower supplies of rare earths after Beijing in early April began requiring domestic exporters to apply for a license — widely seen as a response to US tariffs.

Rare earths are used in everything from electric vehicles to hard drives, wind turbines and missiles.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in London on Tuesday that US measures imposed when rare earths “were not coming” would likely be relaxed once Beijing moved forward with more license approvals. In his Truth Social post, Trump said China will supply “full magnets, and any necessary rare earths... up front.”

Washington has infuriated Beijing by vowing to revoke the visas of Chinese students — a major source of revenue for US universities. On Wednesday, Trump said: “We will provide to China what was agreed to, including Chinese students using our colleges and universities.”

The US president also said that under the deal, the United States would apply 55% tariffs on Chinese goods — a combination of his 30% additional levies and the rough average of pre-existing duties, a White House official said. He said Beijing would charge 10% duties on US goods. The rates are the same as those that were previously agreed in the truce, which brought US tariffs down from 145% and those imposed by China from 125 percent.