President Donald Trump says the U.S. and China have reached a new trade agreement—but let’s be clear: it’s not a full trade deal. Instead, it’s more like a “framework” or a starting point. Trump announced it after two days of talks in London between top officials from both countries. According to Trump, China has agreed to make it easier for American companies to access rare earth minerals and magnets—materials the U.S. badly needs for electronics, defense equipment, and even electric cars.
In exchange, the U.S. has agreed not to cancel visas for Chinese students studying at American colleges.
What’s in the framework?
So far, the details are still fuzzy. Trump hasn’t laid out all the U.S. concessions, and China hasn’t officially confirmed what it agreed to either. Nothing has been signed by Trump or Chinese President Xi Jinping yet. But what we do know is this:
- China will speed up exports of rare earth minerals to the U.S.
- The U.S. will hold off on cracking down on Chinese students.
- More detailed talks are expected to follow.
Tariff confusion
Trump’s online posts created a lot of confusion. He claimed the U.S. is now collecting 55% in tariffs on Chinese goods, while China only gets 10% on U.S. imports. But a White House official later said that 55% isn’t a new number—it includes old tariffs from Trump’s earlier term. So there hasn’t actually been a big new hike.
The back-and-forth has left many business owners scratching their heads. Rick Woldenberg, a toy company CEO, said, “We have no idea what the rules are.”
How we got here
Since Trump returned to office in January, he’s gone full steam ahead with tariffs. He sees them as a tool to protect American jobs and pressure other countries to make better deals. For example, he raised steel and aluminum tariffs to 50%, even though it raised costs for U.S. businesses.
With China, things escalated fast. After starting with a 20% tariff, Trump pushed it up to 54%, then to a massive 145% after China hit back with its tariffs. At one point, it looked like trade between the two countries might collapse completely.
But in a recent Geneva meeting, both sides agreed to scale back: the U.S. returned to a 30% tariff and China to 10%. Still high, but not as extreme.
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Rare Earth minerals: China’s Trump card
One big issue in all this is rare earth minerals. China controls most of the global supply. In April, they slowed down shipments to the U.S., putting pressure on American industries. That’s what sparked the new talks in London. Now, China says it will speed things up—but only slightly.
Experts are skeptical
Not everyone’s impressed. Some experts say this framework is weak and won’t hold. Others warn it could change at any moment since nothing has been signed. Still, many agree that even a fragile truce is better than a full-on trade war, which could hurt not just the U.S. and China, but the global economy too.
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