US and China Reach Preliminary Agreement on Rare Earths and Soy

The United States and China have reached a preliminary agreement on rare earths and soybeans, ahead of a meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that he expects China to resume purchases of American soybeans in significant quantities.

China processes approximately 90% of the world's rare earths. According to Bessent, China will delay the expanded licensing regime for rare earth exports for one year and will review it.

Furthermore, Bessent mentioned that the details of an agreement to transfer Chinese ownership of the video application TikTok to U.S. control have been resolved. The U.S. seeks to separate the application's operations in the U.S. from the Chinese parent company ByteDance for national security reasons.

The American president had threatened to impose additional tariffs of 100% on Chinese products if China intensifies controls on the export of rare earths. However, Bessent stated he was optimistic that this has been avoided.