WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said a trade framework with China has been completed, with Beijing supplying rare earths and magnets “UP FRONT” and the US allowing Chinese students into its colleges and universities.
The United States and China will maintain tariffs at their current, lower levels following negotiations between the two nations this week in London, Trump said on Wednesday (June 11).
He said the deal is subject to final approval by him and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“OUR DEAL WITH CHINA IS DONE, SUBJECT TO FINAL APPROVAL WITH PRESIDENT XI AND ME,” Trump posted on social media. “WE ARE GETTING A TOTAL OF 55% TARIFFS, CHINA IS GETTING 10%. RELATIONSHIP IS EXCELLENT!”
A White House official said the agreement allows the US to charge a 55 per cent tariff on imported Chinese goods. This includes a 10 per cent baseline “reciprocal” tariff, a 20 per cent tariff for fentanyl trafficking and a 25 per cent tariff reflecting pre-existing tariffs.
China would charge a 10 per cent tariff on US imports, the official said.
In a later post, Trump said Xi and he “are going to work closely together to open up China to American Trade. This would be a great WIN for both countries!!!”
His post suggested China may have to restart rare earth shipments before the US agrees to lower export controls on key technology. And his comments left doubt about whether Beijing could negotiate tariff rates even lower.
“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!),” Trump said.
US and Chinese officials said on June 10 they agreed on a framework to get their trade truce back on track and remove China’s export restrictions on rare earths while offering little sign of a durable resolution to longstanding trade tensions.
At the end of two days of intense negotiations in London, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters the framework deal puts “meat on the bones” of an agreement reached in May in Geneva to ease bilateral retaliatory tariffs that reached crushing triple-digit levels
The Geneva deal faltered over China’s curbs on critical minerals exports, prompting the Trump administration to respond with export controls of its own preventing shipments of semiconductor design software, aircraft and other goods to China.
Trump’s shifting tariff policies have roiled global markets, sparked congestion and confusion in major ports and cost companies tens of billions of dollars in lost sales and higher costs. - Reuters, Bloomberg
