US-China Trade Talks Yield Agreement to Ease Curbs, Avoid New Tariffs
US-China Trade Talks Yield Agreement to Ease Curbs, Avoid New Tariffs
The largest global economies were negotiating for a permanent ceasefire in their tariff battle while their current levy suspensions remained provisional.
Chinese and American officials announced Tuesday that they had reached an agreement to restore their trading truce while eliminating China's rare earth export controls without providing any substantial solution to their ongoing US China trade deal 2025.
As two days of stringent US China negotiations in London concluded U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced to reporters that the framework agreement solidifies the previous month's Geneva deal to reduce severe bilateral retaliatory tariffs.
The Trump administration put China export restrictions controls in place to stop shipments of semiconductor design software, chemicals and other technology goods to China after China continued to restrict critical minerals exports which caused the Geneva deal to falter.
Lutnick announced that the London agreement would eliminate some of the recent U.S. export restrictions but withheld further details after the discussions finished at London midnight (2300 GMT).
Lutnick reported that the parties had established a framework to put into practice the Geneva consensus and the directive given by both presidents. Our next step involves contacting President Trump to secure his approval for the US China tariff agreement. The team will consult President Xi for his approval before implementing the framework if he gives his consent.
China's Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang announced during a separate briefing that an agreement on the US China trade truce framework will now be presented to both U.S. and Chinese leaders for approval.
According to Li both parties have agreed to a basic framework that will implement the consensus reached between the two heads of state during their June 5th phone call and at the Geneva meeting.
The Geneva agreement remains intact because of the export controls dispute but fails to address major issues like Trump's unilateral tariffs and the U.S. concerns about China's state-driven export economy.
