The United States and China have reached an agreement on how to speed up rare earth shipments to the U.S., a White House official said on Thursday.
The move follows trade talks in Geneva and is part of broader efforts to ease tensions between the two countries.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that a deal with China had been signed and added that a separate agreement involving India might follow. The Geneva trade discussions in May led to China’s commitment to remove certain non-tariff countermeasures imposed since April 2, although details on the rollback remain unclear.
China had earlier suspended exports of critical minerals and magnets in response to new U.S. tariffs. These restrictions disrupted supply chains for industries such as autos, aerospace, semiconductors, and defence. The White House official said the new understanding outlines how both sides will implement the agreement to resume rare earth shipments.
A separate U.S. official confirmed the agreement was reached earlier this week. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said China would resume deliveries of rare earths and, in response, the U.S. would lift some of its countermeasures.
China’s commerce ministry said Friday that both countries had confirmed the implementation framework of the Geneva consensus. It noted that export applications of controlled items would be approved in line with Chinese law but did not specifically mention rare earths.
Industry sources said China is carefully reviewing buyers of rare earth materials to ensure they are not used for U.S. military purposes, which has slowed licensing. The trade conflict had also led the U.S. to impose export controls on semiconductor software and aircraft sales to China.
In June, China granted temporary export licenses to rare earth suppliers serving major U.S. automakers. Later, Trump said China would resume supply of magnets and rare earths while the U.S. would allow Chinese students to study at American universities.
