Bessent says new U.S.-China deal is a sign of ‘de-escalation’ after Trump’s trade war roiled global markets

·ChinaBessent says new U. -China deal is a sign of ‘de-escalation’ after Trump’s trade war roiled global BY Elaine KurtenbachBY Will WeissertBY The Associated PressBY Elaine KurtenbachBY Will WeissertSEE MOREIn this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, right, shakes hands with U

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent before their meeting to discuss China-U

Li Ying/Xinhua via APWashington and Beijing have signed a trade agreement that will make it easier for American firms to obtain magnets and rare earth minerals from China that are critical to manufacturing and microchip duction, U

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday

The agreement comes after China retaliated against steep import tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Chinese goods and moved to slow export of rare earth minerals and magnets much-needed by U

Bessent said on Fox Network’s “Mornings with Maria” that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping “had a phone call” previously “and then our teams met in London, ironed this out, and I am confident now that we, as agreed, the magnets will flow. ” “Part of the agreement was tariffs coming down and rare earth magnets starting to flow back to the U. ,” Bessent said. “They formed the core of a lot of our industrial base

They were not flowing as fast as previously agreed. ” His s President Donald Trump announcing two weeks earlier an agreement with China that he said would ease exportation of magnets and rare earth minerals That pact ed the way for the trade talks to continue

Has previously susp some sales to China of critical U. nologies components used for jet engines and semiconductors, But it has also agreed to stop trying to revoke visas of Chinese nationals on U

Bessent added of critical mineral exports, “What we’re seeing here is a de-escalation. ” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg TV that the deal was signed earlier this week

China’s Commerce Ministry said Friday that the two sides had “further confirmed the details of the framework,” though its statement did not explicitly mention U

Access to rare earths that have been at the center of the negotiations. “China will, in accordance with the law, review and apve eligible export applications for controlled items

In turn, the United States will lift a series of restrictive measures it had imposed on China,” it said

Initial talks in Geneva in early May led both sides to postpone massive tariff hikes that were threatening to freeze much trade between the two countries

Later talks in London set a framework for negotiations and the deal mentioned by Trump appeared to formalize that agreement — setting the stage for Bessent’s s on Friday

China has not announced any new agreements, but it announced earlier this week that it was speeding up apvals of exports of rare earths, materials used in high- ducts such as electric vehicles

Beijing’s limits on exports of rare earths have been a key point of contention

The Chinese Commerce Ministry said Thursday that Beijing was accelerating review of export license applications for rare earths and had apved “a certain number of compliant applications. ” China does not remove export control restrictions on rare earths but retains the flexibility to dial up or down the apval cess as needed

The rare earth ducts were added to the control list as spelled out by a Chinese law, which applies to all exports worldwide, not just those bound for the U

Market Export controls of the minerals apparently eclipsed tariffs in the round of trade negotiations between Beijing and Washington after China imposed permitting requirements on seven rare earth elements in April, threatening to disrupt duction of cars, robots, wind turbines and other high- ducts in the U

China also has taken steps recently on the fentanyl issue, announcing last week that it would designate two more substances as precursor chemicals for fentanyl, making them subject to duction, transport and export regulations

Trump has demanded that Beijing do more to stop the flow of such precursor ingredients to Mexican drug cartels, which use them to make fentanyl for sale in the U

The agreement struck in May in Geneva called for both sides to scale back punitive tariff hikes imposed as Trump escalated his trade war and sharply raised import duties

Some higher tariffs, such as those imposed by Washington related to the trade in fentanyl and duties on aluminum and steel, remain in place

The rapidly shifting policies are taking a toll on both of the world’s two largest economies

Officials have indicated they expect to reach trade deals with many other countries, including India. “We’re going to have deal after deal after deal,” Lutnick said

Explore this year's list.