US – China Reach Trade Deal, China to Supply rare Earth Minerals, US to Allow Chinese Students
NEW DELHI, June 11: The United States President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the U.S. trade deal with China had been concluded under which China would supply rare earth minerals and magnets while the U.S. in response would allow Chinese students in its colleges and universities.
In a Truth Social post, Trump announced that Beijing will supply United States with “full magnets and all necessary rare earth materials.” In exchange for this, United States will let Chinese students study at American colleges and universities. “WE ARE GETTING A TOTAL OF 55% TARIFFS, CHINA IS GETTING 10%. RELATIONSHIP IS EXCELLENT!” Trump wrote on Truth Social without elaborating.
A White House official said the agreement allows the U.S. to charge a 55% tariff on imported Chinese goods. This includes a 10% baseline “reciprocal” tariff, a 20% tariff for fentanyl trafficking and a 25% tariff reflecting pre-existing tariffs. China would charge a 10% tariff on U.S. imports, the official said.
Mr Trump said the deal is subject to final approval by him and Chinese President Xi Jinping. “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!),” Mr Trump said.
In May, it was because of rare earths, that the tariff truce between the two countries had derailed. Earlier today, China’s vice premier said that Beijing was ready to “strengthen cooperation” with Washington.
U.S. and Chinese officials had said on Tuesday they had agreed on a framework to get their trade agreement 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, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters the framework deal puts “meat on the bones” of an agreement reached last month in Geneva to ease bilateral retaliatory tariffs that had reached crushing triple-digit levels
The Geneva deal had 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. The deal comes in the backdrop of talks in London, where rare earth exports were the major point of talk.
(Manas Dasgupta)
