US-China trade talks: ‘framework' deal amid dispute over rare earths
Officials from the US and China have agreed on a 'framework' to move forward on trade after two days of talks in London stemming from their confrontation over tariffs.
The US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, expressed optimism on Tuesday that concerns about critical or 'rare earth' minerals and magnets 'will be resolved' as the deal is implemented.
Lutnick told reporters that the framework puts 'meat on the bones' of a deal reached last month in Geneva to ease retaliatory tariffs. Its implementation had faltered over China's curbs on critical mineral exports. The deal also would remove some US export restrictions that were recently put in place, Lutnick said.
'We have reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus and the call between the two presidents,' Lutnick said. 'The idea is we're going to go back and speak to President Trump and make sure he approves it. They're going to go back and speak to President Xi and make sure he approves it, and if that is approved, we will then implement the framework.'
In a separate briefing, China's vice commerce minister Li Chenggang said a trade framework had been reached that would be taken back to US and Chinese leaders.
'The two sides have, in principle, reached a framework for implementing the consensus reached by the two heads of state during the phone call on June 5th and the consensus reached at the Geneva meeting,' Li told reporters.
Lutnick said China's restrictions on exports of critical minerals and magnets to the US would be resolved as a 'fundamental' part of the framework agreement. 'Also, there were a number of measures the United States of America put on when those rare earths were not coming,' Lutnick said. 'You should expect those to come off, sort of as President Trump said, in a balanced way.'
Li said: 'Our communication has been very professional, rational, in-depth and candid.'
All eyes were on the outcomes of negotiations as both sides were at an impasse over export restrictions, with US officials earlier accusing Beijing of slow-walking approvals for shipments of critical minerals.
The world's two biggest economies were also seeking a longer-lasting truce in their escalating tariffs war, with levies reduced temporarily.
'We're moving as quickly as we can,' US trade representative Jamieson Greer told reporters. 'We feel positive about engaging with the Chinese.'
With Reuters and Agence France-Presse
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
5 minutes ago
- The Independent
Budget airline axes all flights to US as airspace restrictions bite
An Icelandic-based airline has announced it plans to axe all its flights to the US, stopping trips to major cities like Washington D.C. and New York by the autumn. Low-cost airline Play operates flights between Iceland and destinations in the US and Europe, offering budget tickets on Airbus aircraft to and from its main hub, Keflavík International Airport. Play flies in and out of Iceland to European countries such as Denmark, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. As well as Europe, the airline also directly links Iceland to Baltimore, Boston, and New York City. The airline operates on a hub-and-spoke model, meaning it uses one central airport, Keflavík, to connect to other airports around the world. Play launched its transatlantic flights in the spring of 2022, and has been flying to the US for just over three years. Play's hub-and-spoke routes have since financially underperformed, and an over-saturation in the transatlantic market has meant a growth in competition between airlines. Play will suspend its flights to New York Stewart on 1 September, followed by Boston Logan on 15 September, then finally Baltimore/Washington on 24 October. Its routes in Northern Europe are also expected to be scaled back due to Play dropping the hub-and-spoke strategy it has used since launching four years ago. The strategy has seen a loss of $20 million (£14.7 million) in 2024 in comparison to profits made in point-to-point European leisure markets. The restructuring will come as part of a proposed executive takeover by Play's CEO Einar Örn Ólafsson and Vice Chairman Elías Skúli Skúlason. In a notification to the Central Bank of Iceland, the executives said they plan to submit a voluntary offer for all outstanding shares in the airline via a new holding entity, Aviation Week reported. 'Due to airspace restrictions, several European airlines have redeployed capacity across the Atlantic, leading to overcapacity in the transatlantic market,' the offer document seen by Aviation Week says. 'Many carriers have suspended or terminated East Asia routes, facing a competitive disadvantage against Asian airlines still able to overfly Russia. 'This has increased pressure on transatlantic yields.' If the proposal is approved, Play's revised strategy hopes to target the leisure and VFR (visiting friends and relatives) market. The airline wants to target 'underserved sun destinations' and has recently announced new flights to Antalya, Faro and Agadir. 'We're focusing on the profitable aspects of the business—sun destination flights—and discontinuing those that have not yielded results,' Mr Ólafsson said. The airline will also offer wet-lease services, which provide short-term aircraft and crew to help other airlines fill gaps in schedules.
Glasgow Times
5 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Gatwick-bound plane carrying 53 British nationals crashes in India
In a statement following the incident on Thursday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: 'The scenes emerging of a London-bound plane carrying many British nationals crashing in the Indian city of Ahmedabad are devastating.' He added he is being kept updated as the situation develops. The King said he is also being updated on the incident. India's federal health minister Jagat Prakash Nadda said in a statement that 'many people' were killed in the crash. Air India's chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran described the incident as a 'tragic accident' and a 'devastating event' and said emergency response teams are at the site. A video of the incident, obtained by local media, shows the aircraft flying over a residential area before crashing, creating what appears to be a large explosion. Commons Leader Lucy Powell said the Government will provide 'all the support that it can' to those affected by the incident. Air India said the flight was departing from Ahmedabad Airport with 242 people onboard the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The airline said 169 passengers are Indian nationals, 53 are British, one is Canadian and seven are Portuguese. The Reuters news agency reported 217 adults and 11 children were on board the flight. In a statement, Mr Chandrasekaran said: 'With profound sorrow I confirm that Air India Flight 171 operating Ahmedabad London Gatwick was involved in a tragic accident today. 'Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event. 'At this moment, our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families. 'We are doing everything in our power to assist the emergency response teams at the site and to provide all necessary support and care to those impacted.' He added: 'An emergency centre has been activated and support team have been set up for families seeking information.' Flight AI171, operating Ahmedabad-London Gatwick, was involved in an incident today, 12 June 2025. At this moment, we are ascertaining the details and will share further updates at the earliest on and on our X handle ( -Air India… — Air India (@airindia) June 12, 2025 Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, director general of India's directorate of civil aviation, told the Associated Press the crash happened in the Meghani Nagar area at 1.38pm local time (9.08am BST). Mr Kidwai said there were 232 passengers and 12 crew members onboard. It is the first crash involving a Boeing 787 aircraft, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. Flight tracking website Flightradar24 posted on social media platform X: 'We are following reports of a crash of Air India flight #AI171 from Ahmedabad to London. 'We received the last signal from the aircraft at 08:08:51 UTC (shortly before 9.09am BST), just seconds after take off. 'The aircraft involved is a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with registration VT-ANB.' It added the signal from the aircraft was lost 'less than a minute after take off'. Air India was acquired by Tata Group from the Indian government in January 2022 after racking up billions of pounds of losses. The airline's UK operations are at Birmingham, Gatwick and Heathrow, with routes to a number of Indian cities such as Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Recent analysis by the PA news agency found it was the worst airline for delays to flights from UK airports last year, with planes taking off by an average of more than 45 minutes later than scheduled. The airline has gained a poor reputation for delays and cancellations in recent years, partly caused by a lack of funds to purchase spare aircraft parts, which led to some of its fleet being grounded. The first flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft involved in the crash was in December 2013. The plane was delivered to Air India during the following month.
BBC News
8 minutes ago
- BBC News
Chelsea to trim sizeable loan group
Chelsea are open to the fact that they need to sell a host of players, especially those that spent last season on loan. The club's policy is not to carry a large group of loanees that are not expected or likely to make it into the first team. In their 28-man Club World Cup selection, only one loanee progressed into Enzo Maresca squad from last season, midfielder Andrey Santos. The rest, Raheem Sterling, Axel Disasi, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Djordje Petrovic, Armando Broja, Joao Felix, Renato Veiga, Ben Chilwell, Carney Chukwuemeka, Lesley Ugochukwu and more - are mostly available for sale. The asking price for Kepa is known to be only £5m as he enters the last year of his contract, while Benfica are being credited with serious interest to re-sign Felix. In Sterling's case, the winger made 12 starts on loan at North London club Arsenal last season while the Blues paid around half of his current £300,000-a-week loanees like Alfie Gilchrist, Alex Matos, Leo Castledine and Zak Sturge are also exploring permanent transfers away from Stamford Bridge. Defender Sturge, 20, is in advanced talks about making his loan move at Millwall permanent at the end of the season. Chelsea prefer sales rather than loan moves at this stage but could relax their position later in the transfer window if they struggle to find exits for players. Midfielders Kendry Paez and Mathis Amougou are expected to join Strasbourg on loan while goalkeeper Teddy Sharman-Lowe is in talks over a new contract and potentially joining League One club Bolton Wanderers on loan.
