China Confirms Trade Framework With U.S. to Lift Export Controls

New York Times

a day ago

China said on Friday that it had confirmed details of a trade framework with the Trump administration that includes an agreement for Beijing to speed up exports of critical minerals to the United States and for Washington to lift recent export controls on China.
'China will review and approve applications for the export of controlled items,' China's Ministry of Commerce said in a statement, and 'the United States will correspondingly cancel a series of restrictive measures it has taken against China.'
The statement echoed remarks that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had made hours earlier, telling Bloomberg News that the United States would 'take down' their export controls once China began delivering rare earth minerals.
It is unclear if the agreement is what President Trump was referring to when he said at a White House event on Thursday that his administration had 'signed' a trade deal with China.
The Ministry of Commerce said Chinese and American trade negotiators had 'maintained close communication' after meeting in London on June 9 and 10. The two sides had previously met in Geneva in May.
The meetings were held to stabilize ties between the two superpowers and to call a truce in an escalating trade war in which both sides slapped sky-high tariffs on each other's goods.
Tensions flared after the meeting in Geneva as Chinese rare earths exports to the United States slowed to a trickle. China dominates the supply and processing of rare earths, a vital component of many modern technologies, including semiconductors, robots and aircraft.
The Trump administration responded to the slowdown by imposing restrictions of U.S. exports of ethane, jet engines and chip software to China. These were the countermeasures that Beijing most likely expects to be canceled in return for loosening exports of rare earths.
The announcements come days after China said it strengthened controls on two chemicals that can be used to make fentanyl. That move was seen as an olive branch from Beijing, which Washington has long complained does not do enough to stop the synthetic opioid crisis in the United States.
It remains to be seen if the lifting of export controls from both sides will smooth the way to wider trade talks on fundamental issues frustrating the Trump administration, such as getting China to purchase significantly more American goods and granting more U.S. companies access to China's economy.
While China has said it will not back down from a trade war with the United States, analysts have said it is in Beijing's interests to come to a broader agreement. The Chinese economy remains sluggish because of a property crisis and a dip in consumer confidence.
Berry Wang contributed research.