US-China commerce talks ‘going well’ as assembly resumes for second day in London | EUROtoday

US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick mentioned commerce talks with China have been going nicely as the 2 sides met in London for a second day on Tuesday, searching for a breakthrough on export controls which have threatened a contemporary rupture between the world’s two largest economies.

US and Chinese officers are attempting to get again on monitor after Washington accused Beijing of blocking exports of uncommon earth minerals important to America’s financial system, straining ties after that they had struck a preliminary deal in Geneva final month to step again from a full-blown commerce embargo.

White House financial adviser Kevin Hassett mentioned on Monday that the US was able to comply with raise export controls on some semiconductors in return for China rushing up the supply of uncommon earths and magnets.

The talks went on “all day yesterday” and have been anticipated “all day right this moment”, Mr Lutnick said. “They’re going nicely, and we’re spending numerous time collectively,” he said.

President Donald Trump’s shifting tariff policies have roiled global markets, sparked congestion and confusion at major ports, and cost companies tens of billions of dollars in lost sales and higher costs.

Aided by the reset in Geneva, markets have made up some of the losses they endured after Mr Trump unveiled his sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs in April.

The second round of the talks, which followed a rare phone call between Mr Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping last week, comes at a crucial time for both economies.

Customs data published on Monday showed that China’s exports to the US plunged 34.5 per cent in May, the sharpest drop since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic.

While the impact on US inflation and its jobs market has so far been muted, tariffs have hammered American business and household confidence and kept the dollar under pressure.

The talks have been led by Mr Lutnick, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent and trade representative Jamieson Greer, with the Chinese contingent helmed by vice premier He Lifeng.

The talks ran for almost seven hours on Monday and resumed just before 10am GMT on Tuesday, with both sides expected to issue updates later in the day.

The inclusion of Mr Lutnick, whose agency oversees export controls for the US is one indication of how central rare earths have become.

He did not attend the Geneva talks, when the countries struck a 90-day deal to roll back some of the triple-digit tariffs they had placed on each other.

China holds a near-monopoly on rare earth magnets, a crucial component in electric vehicle motors, and its decision in April to suspend exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets upended global supply chains and sparked alarm in boardrooms and factory floors around the world.

Kelly Ann Shaw, a White House trade adviser during Mr Trump’s first term and now a trade partner at the Akin Gump law firm in Washington, said she expected Beijing to reaffirm its commitment to lift retaliatory measures, including export restrictions, “plus some concessions on the US side, with respect to export control measures over the past week or two”.

But Shaw mentioned she anticipated the US to solely comply with raise some new export curbs, not longstanding ones akin to for superior synthetic intelligence chips.

In May, the US ordered a halt to shipments of semiconductor design software program and chemical compounds and aviation gear, revoking export licences that had been beforehand issued.