The US and China have finalized a trade agreement based on the talks held in Geneva last month, with China committing to export rare earth materials in exchange for the US lifting certain countermeasures, according to Bloomberg. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed the deal and said President Trump plans to finalize similar trade pacts with up to 10 other nations by July 9. While global markets responded positively, the deal remains conditional on future actions and falls short of resolving broader trade issues. They write:
The US and China finalized a trade understanding reached last month in Geneva, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said, adding that the White House has imminent plans to reach agreements with a set of 10 major trading partners.
The China deal, which Lutnick said had been signed two days ago, codifies the terms laid out in trade talks between Beijing and Washington, including a commitment from China to deliver rare earths used in everything from wind turbines to jet planes.
“They’re going to deliver rare earths to us” and once they do that, “we’ll take down our countermeasures,” Lutnick told Bloomberg News in an interview. […]
The agreement comes as the US moves to ease restrictions on exports of ethane, with the Commerce Department earlier this week telling energy companies they could load that petroleum gas on to tankers and ship it to China — but not unload it there without authorization.
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