China, U.S. agree on rare earth, tech trade terms

June 27, 2025 (MLN): The United States and China have confirmed the details of a trade framework aimed at enabling rare earth exports and easing technology-related restrictions, according to a statement released by China’s Ministry of Commerce on Friday afternoon.

Under the agreement, China will review and approve export applications for items under export control regulations, while the United States will lift a range of existing restrictive measures imposed on Beijing, a spokesperson from the ministry stated, without providing further details.

The announcement follows a comment from U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday at a White House event, where he said, “we just signed with China yesterday.”

A White House official later clarified that both countries had agreed to “an additional understanding of a framework to implement the Geneva agreement.”

Earlier this month, high-level trade negotiation teams led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng reached an agreement in London on implementing the Geneva consensus.

The London meeting brought stability to what had been an increasingly tense relationship, with mutual accusations of breaching the Geneva trade agreement, as CNBC reported.

Senior advisor Alfredo Montufar-Helu from The Conference Board’s China Center called the development encouraging but advised caution, noting uncertainty around which rare earth export curbs aside from magnets would be eased.

He emphasized that rare earths are considered vital to national security by both countries, suggesting that trade in these goods may continue to face constraints.

Following initial discussions in Geneva in mid-May, Washington and Beijing had agreed to suspend most tariffs on each other’s goods for 90 days and to roll back specific restrictions.

However, the deal faced setbacks due to delays by China in relaxing rare earth export curbs and the U.S. tightening technology and visa-related restrictions.

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