US President Donald Trump has declared that a trade agreement with China is “done”, following two days of high-level negotiations in London between senior officials from both countries.
Posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the deal was subject to final approval by himself and Chinese President Xi Jinping. He claimed the United States would receive critical rare earth metals from China, while Chinese students would be permitted to resume their studies at American universities.
“Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval with President Xi and me,” Trump wrote. “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!). We are getting a total of 55 percent tariffs, China is getting 10 percent. Relationship is excellent!”
Earlier, both sides had announced they had agreed “in principle” to a framework aimed at reducing trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Rare earth minerals, crucial to high-tech industries such as smartphones and electric vehicles, were a key point of contention during the London talks. US officials have repeatedly criticised China for restricting exports of these essential materials.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the agreement should resolve many of those restrictions. “We have reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus,” Lutnick told reporters. “Once the presidents approve it, we will then seek to implement it.”
The negotiations in London followed a phone call between Trump and Xi last week, which the US President described as “a very good talk”. Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang confirmed that both sides had agreed on a framework to implement the consensus reached during that call and at earlier negotiations in Geneva.
In May, the two sides reached a temporary truce in Switzerland, which Trump called a “total reset”. Under that deal, US tariffs on Chinese goods were cut to 30 percent, while China lowered its own tariffs to 10 percent and pledged to lift barriers on key mineral exports. A 90-day deadline was set to reach a broader agreement.
However, in the weeks that followed, both countries accused each other of breaching the truce. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer claimed China had not eased restrictions on rare earth magnets. Beijing, in turn, pointed to US violations including restrictions on semiconductor technology, cancelled student visas, and warnings against using Chinese tech firm Huawei.
