Top Chinese and US economic officials on Sunday hashed out the framework of a trade deal for US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to discuss later this week. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the talks had eliminated the threat of Trump’s 100% tariffs on all Chinese imports, originally scheduled to start on November 1. He also said he expected China to delay implementation of rare earth minerals and magnets licensing controls by a year while the policy is reconsidered.
Nothing is yet confirmed, and based on the evidence of the past months, the positions of both sides could still change, even week-by-week. But the announcement does indicate that both sides are playing the game, as they each require something from the other side, and fundamentally both sides clearly want a deal of some sort.
In the short- to medium-term at least, China needs access to the US market, and the US needs rare earths. But the disconnect between the two countries extends beyond these two topics, and more will need to be done to maintain or build the relationship, even if these issues are resolved.