By NANDITA BOSE AND DAVID LAWDER
WASHINGTON — The United States and China have resolved issues surrounding shipments of rare earth minerals and magnets to the US, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday, ironing out a dispute that stalled a deal reached in May.
As part of its retaliation against new US tariffs, China suspended exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets, upending supply chains central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world.
During US-China trade talks in May in Geneva, Beijing committed to removing the measures imposed since April 2, but those critical materials were not moving as fast as agreed, Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business Network, so the US put countermeasures in place.
“I am confident now that we — as agreed, the magnets will flow,” Bessent said.
Efforts to resolve the dispute included a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping which led to teams from both sides meeting again in London, as negotiators try to end a trade war between the world’s biggest economies.
Trump said on Thursday the United States had signed a deal with China the previous day, but did not provide details.
A White House official said the United States has reached an agreement with China on how to expedite rare earth shipments to the US
“The administration and China agreed to an additional understanding for a framework to implement the Geneva agreement” that involved expediting their shipments to the US, the official said on Thursday.
China’s commerce ministry said on Friday the two countries have confirmed details on the framework of implementing the Geneva trade talks consensus. It said China will approve export applications of controlled items in accordance with the law. It did not mention rare earths.
