OAN Staff Blake Wolf
11:19 AM – Monday, June 9, 2025
Top U.S. and Chinese officials met in London, England, on Monday — with the intention of closing a highly coveted trade deal.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are all representing the United States at the talks, with China’s vice-premier He Lifeng leading China’s representation.
“Really the purpose of the meeting today is to make sure that they’re serious, but to literally get handshakes from Scott, and Howard, and Jamieson, our three lead trade negotiators, and get this thing behind us,” stated Kevin Hassett, the director of the U.S. National Economic Council.
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The discussions are anticipated to center on the supply of rare earth minerals and permanent magnets, in light of allegations that China is limiting access—an action that could potentially trigger production disruptions in the United States.
Rare earth materials are critical components in modern technology, such as computer chips and electric vehicles, making it a high priority.
“Our expectation is that … immediately after the handshake, any export controls from the U.S. will be eased, and the rare earths will be released in volume, and then we can go back to negotiating smaller matters,” Hassett added.
The discussions also follow last month’s negotiations in Geneva, which reduced the high tariffs that both nations imposed on the other, while neglecting Chinese exports of rare earth materials and magnets.
President Trump previously issued a Truth Social post last Thursday detailing his conversation with the Chinese president.
“I just concluded a very good phone call with President Xi, of China, discussing some of the intricacies of our recently made, and agreed to, Trade Deal. The call lasted approximately one and a half hours, and resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries. There should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of Rare Earth products,” Trump wrote.
“During the conversation, President Xi graciously invited the First Lady and me to visit China, and I reciprocated. As Presidents of two Great Nations, this is something that we both look forward to doing. The conversation was focused almost entirely on TRADE. Nothing was discussed concerning Russia/Ukraine, or Iran,” he added.
Meanwhile, customs data revealed that Chinese exports into the United States have “decreased by 34.5% year-on-year in May in value terms,” representing a sharp decline similar to levels seen during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additionally, Rebecca Harding, the chief executive of the Centre for Economic Security, commented on the ongoing negotiations between the two nations, suggesting that the two are “locked in an existential battle at the moment.”
“There’s absolutely no other way of describing all of this, and this is about how data flows. It’s about information. It’s about AI. It’s about tech. It’s about defense too. China’s rapidly expanding its munitions production at the moment. So it’s about how these two economies actually compete and survive in a digital world where nobody really knows what the power of the nation-state is,” Harding stated.
“It’s much, much more than just about trade and what’s going on in that domain between the two countries. It’s about how they run their economies. This is only just starting and, effectively, it’s a battle for the 21st century,” she added.
The talks are expected to continue into Tuesday, according to The Guardian.
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