LONDON: The United States and China kicked off a fresh round of trade talks in London on Monday, aiming to reinforce a fragile truce following years of tariff battles. The negotiations are taking place at Lancaster House, a UK Foreign Office venue, and follow an earlier meeting held in Geneva.
Leading the Chinese delegation is Vice Premier He Lifeng, while the US team is headed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Beijing’s state news agency Xinhua confirmed the start of the talks.
A major sticking point is China’s shipments of rare earth minerals—critical for products like electric vehicle batteries. Since Trump’s April tariffs, rare earth exports from China to the US have slowed significantly. The US wants these shipments resumed, while China is pushing the US to reconsider restrictions on Chinese students, technology access, and Chinese tech companies’ market entry.
The tariff war has seen levies reach as high as 145% on Chinese goods and 125% on US goods, with a brief 90-day tariff reduction agreed in Switzerland. Despite this, disagreements, especially over rare earth exports, persist. Reflecting the tensions, China’s exports to the US dropped 12.7% in May compared to April.
China is also working with other trade partners like Japan, South Korea, and Canada to build resistance against US tariffs. Recently, China and Canada agreed to normalize communication channels, discussing trade and other issues. Beijing has proposed a “green channel” to speed rare earth exports to the EU, ahead of a summit marking 50 years of China-EU diplomatic relations.
This diplomatic and trade maneuvering highlights the strategic importance of rare earths and the broader struggle over trade and technology access between the world’s two largest economies.