U.S. and China Begin Second Round of Trade Talks in London... Expected to Discuss Export Controls on Rare Earths

China's state-run Xinhua News Agency and U.S. Reuters reported on the 9th (local time) that the United States and China have begun their second high-level trade talks in London, United Kingdom.

In this round of talks, export controls on items such as rare earths and semiconductor equipment imposed by both countries against each other are expected to be the main agenda items, rather than tariffs.

Previously, on the 6th, U.S. President Donald Trump announced via the social media platform Truth Social that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and USTR Representative Jamieson Greer would participate in the U.S. delegation.

On the Chinese side, as in the Geneva talks last month, Vice Premier He Lifeng was said to be leading the delegation, but other participants were not disclosed.

This is the second meeting between the two delegations, following the high-level trade negotiations held in Geneva on May 10–11.

At that time, it was agreed to drastically reduce tariffs by 115% points each for 90 days, and China promised to lift non-tariff measures that had been enforced in response to the mutual tariffs announced by the U.S. in early April.

However, after the Geneva agreement, the U.S. accused China of violating the deal by maintaining export controls on key minerals and rare earths despite the promise to remove non-tariff measures, while China denied the claim and instead protested that the U.S. has been taking discriminatory actions, such as canceling visas for Chinese students.

As a result, the negotiations, which had not made progress for some time, found a breakthrough following a telephone call between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the 5th.

Kevin Hassett, Chairman of the White House National Economic Council (NEC), said in an interview with U.S. CNBC that after the two countries "shake hands in London," it is expected that all U.S. export controls will be eased and rare earths will be exported from China.

Bloomberg News reported that this suggests the U.S. is showing willingness to lift the export controls imposed on China in exchange for China easing its controls on rare earth exports.

Hassett’s remarks are described as a clear signal that the U.S. is willing to make such concessions.

Lee Bo-bae, Contributing Reporter for Hankyung.com newsinfo@hankyung.com