Washington Says Beijing Is “Going to Give Them Rare Earths”
US President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has reached a trade agreement with the Chinese government, following a tariff war in which he imposed tariffs of up to 145 percent on China, which responded with tariffs of 125 percent on US products.
“We just signed with China yesterday, right? We just signed with China,” he said during an event at the White House, where he did not provide further details about an agreement that Chinese authorities have not yet confirmed.
The White House resident stated that “we are receiving great offers” from other governments and suggested that the next country with which an agreement could be reached is India. “We have one on the way, perhaps with India, a very big one,” he noted.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, for his part, stated that Washington and Beijing signed this agreement days ago, although a month ago in Geneva they agreed on a mechanism for trade and economic consultations to resolve the tariff war declared by Trump.
The pact, as he indicated in an interview with Bloomberg, includes China’s commitment to deliver rare earths used in everything from wind turbines to jet aircraft.
“They are going to deliver rare earths to us,” Lutnick assured, adding that once they do, “we will withdraw our countermeasures.”
On another note, the Commerce Secretary announced that the US government is close to reaching tariff agreements with ten trading partners. “We’re going to make the ten best deals, put them in the right category, and then these other countries will follow,” he said, without specifying which states.
Tensions between the world’s two largest economies reached a new fever pitch after President Trump progressively increased tariffs on Beijing to 145 percent after denouncing China’s role in the fentanyl trade and its huge trade surplus with the United States. In response, China increased its tariffs on US products to 125 percent, with no intention of backing down.
