- A Chinese official says a “preliminary consensus” has been reached.
- US official expects China to delay rare earth restrictions for a year.
- Donald Trump optimistic about deal during meeting with Xi Jinping.
Top Chinese and U.S. economic officials on Sunday hammered out the framework for a trade deal that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have to decide on later this week that would end higher U.S. tariffs and Chinese controls on rare earth exports, U.S. officials said.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said negotiations on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur had removed the threat of 100% tariffs imposed by Trump on Chinese imports from November 1.
Bessent also said he expects China to delay the implementation of its licensing regime for rare earth minerals and magnets for a year while it reviews its policy.
Chinese officials have been more circumspect about the talks and have not provided any details on the outcome of the meetings.
Trump and Xi are scheduled to meet Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, to sign the terms. While the White House has officially announced the highly anticipated Trump-Xi talks, China has yet to confirm that the two leaders will meet.
“I think we have a very effective framework for leaders to talk on Thursday,” Bessent told reporters after he and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and top trade negotiator Li Chenggang for their fifth round of in-person talks since May.
Bessent said he anticipated the tariff truce with China would be extended beyond its Nov. 10 expiration date and that China would restart substantial purchases of U.S. soybeans after buying none in September, while favoring soybeans from Brazil and Argentina.
U.S. soybean farmers “will be very happy with what happens both for this season and for seasons to come for several years” once the terms of the deal are announced, Bessent told the ABC program “This Week.”
Greer told “Fox News Sunday” that the two sides agreed to suspend some punitive actions and find “a path forward where we could have more access to rare earths from China, and try to balance our trade deficit with sales from the United States.”
Trump expects deal, Chinese suggest caution
China’s Li Chenggang said the two sides had reached a “preliminary consensus” and would then go through their respective internal approval processes.
“The US position has been tough, while China has firmly defended its own interests and rights,” Li said through an interpreter. “We have held very intense consultations and engaged in constructive exchanges to explore solutions and arrangements to address these concerns.”
Trump arrived in Malaysia on Sunday for an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit, his first stop on a five-day tour of Asia that is expected to culminate with his face-to-face Thursday with Xi in South Korea.
After the weekend talks, Trump struck a positive tone, saying, “I think we’re going to come to an agreement with China.”
Trump had threatened new 100% tariffs on Chinese goods and other trade restrictions starting November 1, in retaliation for expanded Chinese export controls on magnets and rare earth minerals.
China controls more than 90% of the world’s supply of materials critical to high-tech manufacturing, from electric vehicles to semiconductors and missiles. Trump’s export controls and threats of retaliation would disrupt a delicate six-month truce in which China and the United States slashed tariffs that had quickly reached triple-digit rates on each side.
U.S. and Chinese officials said that in addition to rare earths, they discussed expanding trade, the U.S. fentanyl crisis, entry fees at U.S. ports and moving TikTok to U.S. ownership control.
Bessent told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the two sides need to iron out the details of the TikTok deal, allowing Trump and Xi to “consummate the transaction” in South Korea.
Topics for discussion with Xi include soybeans and Taiwan
On the sidelines of the ASEAN summit, Trump hinted at possible meetings with Xi in China and the United States.
“We agreed to meet. We’re going to meet with them later in China, and we’re going to meet in the United States, either in Washington or at Mar-a-Lago,” Trump said.
Among Trump’s talking points with Xi are Chinese purchases of American soybeans, concerns around Taiwan, which China considers its own territory, and the release of imprisoned Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai.
Trump also said he would seek China’s help in U.S.-Moscow relations as Russia’s war in Ukraine continues.
Tensions between the world’s two largest economies have escalated in recent weeks as an uneasy trade truce, reached after a first round of trade talks in Geneva in May and extended in August, failed to stop the United States and China from attacking each other with more sanctions, export curbs and threats of harsher retaliation.
China’s increased controls on rare earth exports have caused a global shortage. This has prompted the United States to consider blocking software exports to China, from laptops to aircraft engines, according to a Reuters report.
