US says deal with Beijing will expedite rare earth exports from China
June 26, 2025
WASHINGTON,
June 26 (Reuters) - The United States has reached an agreement with
China on how to expedite rare earth shipments to the U.S., a White House
official said on Thursday, amid efforts to end a trade war between the world's biggest economies.
President Donald Trump
earlier said the United States had signed a deal with China on
Wednesday, without providing additional details, and that there might be
a separate deal coming up that would "open up" India.
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During U.S.-China trade talks
in May in Geneva, Beijing committed to removing non-tariff
countermeasures imposed against the United States since April 2,
although it was unclear how some of those measures would be walked back.
As
part of its retaliation against new U.S. tariffs, China suspended
exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets, upending the
supply chains central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world.
"The
administration and China agreed to an additional understanding for a
framework to implement the Geneva agreement," a White House official
said on Thursday.
The understanding is "about how we can implement expediting rare earths shipments to the U.S. again", the official said.
A separate administration official said the U.S.-China agreement took place earlier this week.
U.S.
President Donald Trump speaks during a "One Big Beautiful" event at the
White House in Washington, DC., U.S., June 26, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan
Howard Purchase Licensing Rights
U.S.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was quoted as saying by Bloomberg:
"They’re going to deliver rare earths to us" and once they do that
"we'll take down our countermeasures."
China's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While
the agreement shows potential progress following months of trade
uncertainty and disruption since Trump took office in January, it also
underscores the long road ahead to a final, definitive trade deal
between the two economic rivals.
China
has been taking its dual-use restrictions on rare earths "very
seriously" and has been vetting buyers to ensure that materials are not
diverted to U.S. military uses, according to an industry source. This
has slowed down the licensing process.
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.
In early June, Reuters reported
China had granted temporary export licenses to rare-earth suppliers of
the top three U.S. automakers, according to two sources familiar with
the matter, as supply chain disruptions began to surface from export
curbs on those materials.
Later in the month, Trump said there was a deal with China
in which Beijing would supply magnets and rare earth minerals while the
U.S. would allow Chinese students in its colleges and universities.
Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Ryan Patrick Jones and Kanishka Singh; writing by Costas Pitas; Editing by Chris Reese, Stephen Coates and Lincoln Feast
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