U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in Busan, South Korea. Credit: Wikicommons / White House
China agreed to suspend a planned expansion of export controls on rare earth elements (REE) for a year after US President Donald Trump struck a broad trade deal with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
The meeting, in the South Korean city of Busan, also saw Trump agree to lower tariffs on Chinese goods from 57% to 47%, news agencies including Agence France-Presse and Reuters reported Thursday. In exchange, Beijing vowed to crack down on fentanyl exports and buying US soybeans, the reports said.
China, which accounts for most of the world’s rare earth production, imposed export restrictions in April on seven REE in response to US tariffs and limits on semiconductors. It added five REE – erbium, europium, holmium, thulium and ytterbium – to the list on Oct. 9, saying it would…
