Trump confirms US ‘deal’ with China after intense trade negotiations

President Trump announced early Wednesday that the US had reached a trade agreement with China following two days of negotiations in London.

“Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval with President Xi and me,” Trump revealed in an all-caps post on Truth Social. “Full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China.”

“Likewise, we will provide to China what was agreed to, including Chinese students using our colleges and universities (which has always been good with me!). We are getting a total of 55% tariffs, China is getting 10%. The relationship is excellent! Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

“President XI and I are going to work closely together to open up China to American Trade,” the president added. “This would be a great WIN for both countries!!”

While Trump stated that China had agreed to allow licenses for rare earth minerals, those licenses are set to be temporary and only last six months, The Wall Street Journal reported — giving China leverage in the effect of future friction between Washington and Beijing. 

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report by The Post. 

“What the president heard, he liked,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters about the framework. “China has agreed to open their markets to the United States separately of this deal.”

Leavitt added that Trump was “reviewing the details,” but said the two premier global economic powers were “in a great place right now.”

Trump’s announcement, along with a better-than-expected May inflation report, wasn’t enough to stop a sluggish day on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing down a single point, the S&P 500 finishing off more than 16 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq shedding 99 points.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, part of the White House team that negotiated the framework agreement, told lawmakers on Capitol Hill he expected China to uphold its end of the bargain.

“China currently has the most imbalanced economy in the world,” Bessent testified to the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday.

“They are in the midst of a real estate downturn, some may call a crisis, and they are trying to export their way out of it, rather than take domestic measures,” he went on. “They cannot be allowed to export their way back to prosperity, which would mean substantial decreases in the standards of living, not only for the United States [and] working Americans, but for working citizens across the world.”

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had announced late Tuesday that the US and China “reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus,” referring to the understanding agreed last month that saw US tariffs drop to 30% from 145% on most Chinese goods. 

Meanwhile, China agreed to lower its tariffs on most US goods to 10% from 125%.

That trade truce was meant to give the two sides until Aug. 10 to broker a more comprehensive deal.

The 55% tariff rate Trump announced Wednesday refers to the 10% baseline rate the president slapped on nearly all countries April 2, the 20% rate he levied on Beijing earlier this year due to the fentanyl crisis as well as roughly 25% for pre-existing tariffs meant to counter unfair practices by China, a White House official told The Post. 

That means the rate announced by Trump Wednesday does not represent a major change, but a more complete accounting of the duties already in place.

Implementation of the Geneva truce had briefly stalled after the two sides accused each other of violating its terms. 

The US griped that China had been making “slow moves” to allow exports of rare earths, prompting the Trump administration to ratchet up restrictions on key chemicals, tighten rules on exports of critical semiconductor design software, and revoke visas for Chinese students. 

Lutnick claimed that the recent framework brokered in London put “meat on the bones” on the Geneva consensus that brought down triple-digit tariffs the two countries had imposed on one another as Trump worked to recalibrate US trade policy. 

The commerce secretary said the new arrangement would see China ease barriers on rare earth minerals “in a balanced way,” without elaborating on specifics. 

Lutnick claimed that the framework brokered in London put “meat on the bones” on the Geneva consensus and would allow China to ease barriers on rare earth minerals “in a balanced way,” without elaborating on specifics. 

China’s Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang had similarly confirmed late Tuesday that an agreement in London had been reached, subject to Trump’s and Xi’s approval.

The two sides had spent close to two days in the British capital deliberating over the stalled implementation of the Geneva consensus. 

Trump claimed that he had a “very good” call with Xi last week after trade talks had stalled between the two economic giants, soon after he groused that Xi is “very tough, and extremely hard to make a deal with.”