Politics
NEW: Trump Announces Favorable Trade Deal With China, Reveals Key Details
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump revealed new details about his burgeoning trade deal with China, setting the stage for a historic agreement between the world’s two greatest superpowers.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump declared the deal with China is “done” and nearly ready for a total unveiling, “subject to final approval with President Xi and me,” Trump added.
A key component of the deal will be China’s sale of rare earth materials — the kinds supporting electric vehicles, iPhones, and other technology-related items — to the U.S., the president stated.
“FULL MAGNETS, AND ANY NECESSARY RARE EARTHS, WILL BE SUPPLIED, UP FRONT, BY CHINA,” he wrote on Truth Social. “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!).”
“WE ARE GETTING A TOTAL OF 55% TARIFFS, CHINA IS GETTING 10%. RELATIONSHIP IS EXCELLENT! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!” he added.
For weeks, both countries have been waging a bitter battle over the future of tariffs on one another’s goods, with trillions of dollars on the table. Following Trump’s 145% tariff on all Chinese imports, both sides ratcheted down their respective antes.
“President XI and I are going to work closely together to open up China to American Trade,” Mr. Trump added in a subsequent post. “This would be a great WIN for both countries!!!”
In May, both sides met in Geneva to negotiate a future on trade deals, implementing a 90-day pause while working through the contours of a permanent agreement. That left China facing 30% on imports to the U.S. versus 10% on American-made goods sent to China.
China’s Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang, speaking from London on Tuesday, appeared to concur with Trump’s assessment about the status of the deal, saying it is finalized “in principle,” according to CBS News.
Chinese state-run media added that the two sides have “made new progress,” though they did not specify.
“The framework deal puts meat on the bones of an agreement reached last month in Geneva to ease bilateral retaliatory tariffs,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said following the talks in London.
With “the negativity” out of the room following the meeting in Geneva, both sides “can go forward to try to do positive trade, growing trade,” he said.
“At stake is the release of rare earths exports to U.S. manufacturers — stockpiles are dwindling fast — in exchange for aerospace parts and semiconductor programming technology to China,” Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, told investors in a report. “A ‘fail’ would raise the risk of auto and aircraft production grinding to a halt as soon as next month. If that happens, economic growth will be severely dented for an unknown term.”
For now, however, the U.S. economy appears stable. On Wednesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the consumer price index increased by just half of what most economists surveyed were expecting, while key retail areas like automobiles and apparel actually saw prices decline.
