Description: US President Donald Trump announced that the US and China have agreed upon the rare earth minerals exports and formulated a framework agreement which would enable China to expedite exports to the US. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce issued an unspecified official statement claiming that China would ease the licensing procedures for several items and in return the US would lift several restrictive measures it had imposed on Chinese goods. The trade breakthrough comes after high – level trade negotiations held in May in Geneva and the negotiations in London in Jun, culminating with the phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and the US President Donald Trump. The easement around China’s rare earth minerals exports is a significant step towards larger de-escalation efforts in the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
Impact: The initial trade negotiations in Geneva and continued efforts from trade representatives on both sides have positively impacted the trade war between China and the US. The agreed concessions on both parts regarding the heavily disputed rare earth minerals could potentially contribute towards the conceptualization of an extended trade framework which would allow further stabilization on the global markets and returning to an improved status quo between the US and China. Trade negotiations have stalled in the past and the achieved compromise on the rare earth minerals signifies both countries have accepted the codependency between their national economies and would approach future diplomatic engagements on an even keel. The upcoming period is crucial, with Trump’s 09 Jul trade deadline which could endanger the newly established trade quid pro quo and potentially limit or extend future trade negotiations.