Rare Earths Deal With China Still in Effect, US Official Says

A rare earths deal between the United States and China remains in effect and any extension will be announced at the appropriate time, a senior US official told reporters on Sunday.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are due to meet in Beijing on 14 and 15 May.

“It’s still in effect. It doesn’t expire yet”, the official told reporters, adding that conversations were ongoing but it was not yet clear whether the deal would be extended. “I’m confident we’ll announce any potential extension at the appropriate time.”

Trump and Xi are expected to discuss the US-Israeli war on Iran, trade, Taiwan and other flashpoints when their two-day summit begins on Thursday.

Their last meeting was in October in South Korea, where they agreed to pause a bruising trade war in which the US had imposed triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods and Beijing had threatened to restrict the global supply of rare earths.

(reuters, im)