Time to change how London chooses its deputy mayor?
London's Governance Working Group discussed potential changes and inequities in the way London's deputy mayor position is selected.
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CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Deal with Beijing will speed China's export of minerals to the U.S., treasury secretary says
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, right, shakes hands with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent before their meeting to discuss China-U.S. trade, in London, Monday, June 9, 2025. (Li Ying/Xinhua via AP) BANGKOK — Washington and Beijing have signed a trade agreement that will make it easier for American firms to obtain magnets and rare earth minerals from China that are critical to manufacturing and microchip production, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday. The agreement comes after China retaliated against steep import tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Chinese goods and moved to slow export of rare earth minerals and magnets much-needed by U.S. industrial interests. Bessent said on Fox Business Network's 'Mornings with Maria' that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping 'had a phone call' previously 'and then our teams met in London, ironed this out, and I am confident now that we, as agreed, the magnets will flow.' 'Part of the agreement was tariffs coming down and rare earth magnets starting to flow back to the U.S.,' Bessent said. 'They formed the core of a lot of our industrial base. They were not flowing as fast as previously agreed.' His comments follow U.S. President Donald Trump announcing two weeks earlier an agreement with China that he said would ease exportation of magnets and rare earth minerals That pact cleared the way for the trade talks to continue. The U.S. has previously suspended some sales to China of critical U.S. technologies like components used for jet engines and semiconductors, But it has also agreed to stop trying to revoke visas of Chinese nationals on U.S. college campuses. Bessent added of critical mineral exports, 'What we're seeing here is a de-escalation.' Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg TV that the deal was signed earlier this week. China's Commerce Ministry said Friday that the two sides had 'further confirmed the details of the framework,' though its statement did not explicitly mention U.S. access to rare earths that have been at the center of the negotiations. 'China will, in accordance with the law, review and approve eligible export applications for controlled items. In turn, the United States will lift a series of restrictive measures it had imposed on China,' it said. Initial talks in Geneva in early May led both sides to postpone massive tariff hikes that were threatening to freeze much trade between the two countries. Later talks in London set a framework for negotiations and the deal mentioned by Trump appeared to formalize that agreement — setting the stage for Bessent's comments on Friday. China has not announced any new agreements, but it announced earlier this week that it was speeding up approvals of exports of rare earths, materials used in high-tech products such as electric vehicles. Beijing's limits on exports of rare earths have been a key point of contention. The Chinese Commerce Ministry said Thursday that Beijing was accelerating review of export license applications for rare earths and had approved 'a certain number of compliant applications.' China does not remove export control restrictions on rare earths but retains the flexibility to dial up or down the approval process as needed. The rare earth products were added to the control list as spelled out by a Chinese law, which applies to all exports worldwide, not just those bound for the U.S. market Export controls of the minerals apparently eclipsed tariffs in the latest round of trade negotiations between Beijing and Washington after China imposed permitting requirements on seven rare earth elements in April, threatening to disrupt production of cars, robots, wind turbines and other high-tech products in the U.S. and around the world. China also has taken steps recently on the fentanyl issue, announcing last week that it would designate two more substances as precursor chemicals for fentanyl, making them subject to production, transport and export regulations. Trump has demanded that Beijing do more to stop the flow of such precursor ingredients to Mexican drug cartels, which use them to make fentanyl for sale in the U.S. He imposed 20 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports over the fentanyl issue, the biggest part of current 30 per cent across-the-board taxes on Chinese goods. The agreement struck in May in Geneva called for both sides to scale back punitive tariff hikes imposed as Trump escalated his trade war and sharply raised import duties. Some higher tariffs, such as those imposed by Washington related to the trade in fentanyl and duties on aluminum and steel, remain in place. The rapidly shifting policies are taking a toll on both of the world's two largest economies. The U.S. economy contracted at a 0.5 per cent annual pace from January through March, partly because imports surged as companies and households rushed to buy foreign goods before Trump could impose tariffs on them. In China, factory profits sank more than 9 per cent from a year earlier in May, with automakers suffering a large share of that drop. They fell more than 1 per cent year-on-year in January-May. Trump and other U.S. officials have indicated they expect to reach trade deals with many other countries, including India. 'We're going to have deal after deal after deal,' Lutnick said. Elaine Kurtenbach And Will Weissert, The Associated Press Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Didi Tang contributed from Washington.
CTV News
4 hours ago
- CTV News
Four arrested in connection with break-in at a U.K. military base
LONDON — British counter terrorism police said Friday that they have arrested four people in connection with a break-in at a military base last week, during which two planes were vandalized. Counter Terrorism Policing South East said in a statement that two men, 24 and 36, from London were arrested Thursday along with a 29-year-old woman of no fixed address 'on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.' A 41-year-old woman, of no fixed address, was also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. They remain in police custody. The arrests relate to a break-in at the Royal Air Force base in Brize Norton, during which two planes were damaged with red paint. The pro-Palestinian activist group Palestine Action subsequently released video footage appearing to show one of the two activists who entered the base spraying the paint into a jet's turbine engines. The group alleged that Britain was continuing to 'send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel U.S./Israeli fighter jets,' and condemned the country as 'an active participant in the Gaza genocide and war crimes across the Middle East.' Earlier this week, the British government said it will ban Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws. The measure means it will be a criminal offence to belong to or support the group, with a maximum of 14 years in prison. The group has sought to press its point with high-profile direct action, perhaps most notably in March when it targeted one of U.S. President Donald Trump's golf resorts in Scotland, painting 'Gaza is Not For Sale' in giant letters on the lawn in response to his proposal to empty the Gaza Strip of its Palestinian population. The government said a draft order for the ban will be laid in Parliament next week. Lawmakers still need to approve it. Britain's government has proscribed about 80 organizations, including Hamas and al Qaeda, and far-right groups such as National Action. The Associated Press
CTV News
8 hours ago
- CTV News
Time to change how London chooses its deputy mayor?
London's Governance Working Group discussed potential changes and inequities in the way London's deputy mayor position is selected.
