US, China ‘signed trade deal yesterday’: White House

Donald Trump and his Commerce Secretary say a framework agreement that includes a deal on rare earth minerals has been ‘signed and sealed.’

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are at loggerheads over trade.

The White House has confirmed that the United States and China have signed a framework trade agreement has been signed, although the details have not emerged.

Early on Friday (AEST), Donald Trump said: “We just signed with China yesterday,” as he hosted his “One Big, Beautiful Event” aimed at drumming up support for his “Big, Beautiful Bill”.

This is not the first time Trump has announced a deal with China, but while no details of the agreement have been made public, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg TV the framework deal, which needed top-level approval, had been “signed and sealed”.

A White House official also said the two countries had reached an understanding on issues including expediting rare earth shipments to the United States.

China has not comment on the agreement yet.

Earlier in the month there were two days of intense talks between US and Chinese officials in London with the aim of de-escalating tensions and eventually reaching a framework agreement.

In the days afterwards, Trump said China had agreed to supply US companies with rare earth metals and magnets, while the US would row back on its threats to revoke visas from Chinese students. “Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval from President Xi and me,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform at the time, saying that China would be subject to 55 per cent tariffs on its exports to the United States, up from 30 per cent, while Beijing’s tariffs remain at 10 per cent.

Howard Lutnick, the US commerce secretary, said the two sides had “reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus … Once the presidents approve it, we will then seek to implement it.”

In May, the White House put its steepest retaliatory tariffs on hold for 90 days, but they are set to kick in again on July 9 unless the agreement is formalised by Trump and China’s president, Xi Jinping.

“We’re not going to make deals with everybody, we’re just going to send them a letter to say thank you very much, you’re going to pay 25, 35, 45 per cent,” Trump said on Thursday night. “We have one coming up, maybe with India, a very big one.”

It comes at the end of a months-long tariff war between China and the United States; at one point in April the proposed levy peaked at 143 per cent, according to the World Trade Organisation’s tracker.

With The Times