China’s Ministry of Commerce in Beijing.
Visual China Group | Getty Images
The U.S. and China have confirmed details of a trade framework that seeks to allow rare earth exports and easing of tech restrictions, according to a statement released by China’s Ministry of Commerce Friday afternoon.
China will review and approve export applications for items subject to export control rules, while the U.S. will cancel a range of existing restrictive measures imposed against Beijing, a spokesperson for the ministry said in the statement, without elaborating.
The statement comes after U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday at an event in the White House that “we just signed with China yesterday.” A White House official later clarified that the administration and China had agreed to “an additional understanding of a framework to implement the Geneva agreement.”
Earlier this month, trade negotiation teams from both sides, led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, reached an agreement on implementing the Geneva consensus after two days of high-level talks in London.
The London agreement has stabilized what had become a fraught relationship, with both sides accusing each other of violating the Geneva trade agreement.
Alfredo Montufar-Helu, senior advisor for the China Center at think tank The Conference Board, said that while the development is encouraging, “it’s important to temper expectations.”
He added that there was a lack of clarity on which rare earth export curbs will be relaxed, barring magnets.
Montufar-Helu said that rare earths were vital for national security on both sides, thus trade in these goods will likely remain constrained.
Following the initial trade meeting in Geneva, Switzerland in mid-May, Washington and Beijing had struck a preliminary agreement to suspend a majority of tariffs on each other’s goods for 90 days and to roll back certain restraints.
The Geneva deal later faltered over China’s slow-walking on relaxing curbs on rare earths exports and the U.S. tightening restrictions on tech and Chinese student visas.
