June 12th, 2025
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Top negotiators from the U.S. and China have agreed on a way to restart their trade discussions after several disagreements almost ended them, both countries have reported.
The announcement was made after two days of discussions in London, which finished late on Tuesday.
The meetings seemed to focus on solving arguments about mineral and technology exports. These arguments had disturbed a delicate trade agreement made in Geneva last month. It's not clear if they made any progress on the main disagreements about China's large trade surplus with the United States.
First, we needed to deal with the negative feelings, and now we can move on," U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters after the meetings.
Asian stock markets went up on Wednesday after the agreement was announced.
The discussions took place after President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke on the phone last week to try and solve the problems.
Xinhua reported that Li Chenggang, China's trade representative, said both sides had mostly agreed on a plan to carry out the decisions made during a phone call and meetings in Geneva.
More information, such as possible future talks, was not available right away.
Vice Premier He Lifeng led a group that included Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. They met with Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at Lancaster House, an old building near Buckingham Palace.
Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade negotiator, said that 30 of the 90 days they had to solve their disagreements had been wasted.
In Geneva, they agreed to temporarily stop most of the very high taxes they had placed on each other's goods for 90 days. This was done to calm their growing trade conflict, which had caused worries about a possible economic slowdown. Because of more trade barriers, the World Bank reduced its predictions for economic growth in the US and globally this year.
Cutler, who works as the Vice President at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said that the U.S. and China wasted important time in fixing their agreements made in Geneva. He also mentioned that they now have only sixty days to deal with important problems like unfair trade, too much production, illegal shipping, and the drug fentanyl.
Since the Geneva talks, the U.S. and China have argued a lot about advanced computer chips for AI, visas for Chinese students at American universities, and important rare earth minerals that carmakers and other industries need.
China, which produces the most rare earths in the world, has indicated it might give out export licenses for these elements faster. In exchange, Beijing wants the U.S. to get rid of its limits on China's ability to use the technology for making advanced computer chips.
Lutnick said that solving the rare earths problem is an important part of the agreement, and the U.S. will remove actions it had taken because of it. He didn't say which actions.
He said that when the licenses are approved, our exports are expected to decrease.
Cutler said it would be very unusual for the U.S. to talk about its export controls. She explained that China has been complaining about these controls for almost 20 years.
By doing this, the U.S. has given China a chance to ask for export controls to be part of future discussions, she said.
A court in Washington has said the government can keep collecting extra taxes that Trump put on goods from China and other countries. They can do this while the government tries to overturn a decision made about his main trade policy.
Trump said before that he wants to make it easier for American products to be sold in China, which is a very big manufacturer for the world.
Trump said at the White House that if they didn't open up China, they might not achieve much, but he really wanted to open up China.
June 12th, 2025
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