US and China Begin Second Round of Trade Talks in London, Expected to Discuss Rare Earth Elements

Reports by Xinhua and Others

The United States and China began high-level trade talks in London, United Kingdom, on June 9 (local time), according to reports from China's state-run Xinhua News Agency and others.

Xinhua reported that "Vice Premier He Lifeng of the State Council of China and the U.S. side have launched the first meeting of the China-U.S. economic and trade negotiation mechanism in London."

On June 6, U.S. President Donald Trump announced via the social media platform Truth Social that the U.S. delegation would include Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamison Greer. On the Chinese side, as in the previous negotiations in Geneva last month, only Vice Premier He was identified as leading the delegation, with no further details provided about the other participants.

This U.S.-China meeting is the second high-level trade negotiation, following the talks held in Geneva on May 10-11. At that time, both countries agreed to sharply lower their respective tariffs by 115 percentage points for 90 days, and China agreed to lift non-tariff measures it had implemented in response to the reciprocal tariffs announced by the United States in early April.

However, after the Geneva agreement, the United States claimed that China had violated the deal by maintaining export controls on critical minerals and rare earth elements, even though it had promised to lift its non-tariff measures. China denied this, arguing instead that the United States was taking discriminatory actions, such as canceling visas for Chinese students. As a result, the U.S.-China trade negotiations had reached an impasse, which was only broken after a phone call between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on June 5.

In this second round of high-level negotiations, the main agenda is expected to focus on the export controls each country has implemented to prevent the export of essential raw materials and technologies to the other side. Bloomberg News, citing comments from Kevin Hassett, Chairman of the White House National Economic Council (NEC), reported that the United States has indicated a willingness to lift its export controls on China in exchange for assurances that China will ease its export controls on rare earth elements.

In an interview with CNBC, Chairman Hassett stated that once the two sides "shake hands" in London, he expects all U.S. export controls to be eased and rare earth elements to be exported from China. Bloomberg reported that this statement is a clear signal that the United States is willing to offer such concessions.