Catenaa, Monday, June 09, 2025- The US and China restarted trade talks in London on Monday, as the two nations aim to ease export controls and close the deal on rare earth minerals.
“The purpose of the meeting today is to make sure that they’re serious, [and] to literally get handshakes,” Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, told CNBC. “I expect it to be a short meeting with a big, strong handshake — and we’ll see.”
US President Donald Trump’s call with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on Friday came after weeks of Trump publicly pushing for a direct call.
US-China tensions have risen in the aftermath of the countries’ trade truce reached in mid-May in Geneva, with both countries accusing the other of breaching that truce while ratcheting up pressure on other issues.
“The very, very high-end Nvidia stuff is not what I’m talking about,” Hassett said, adding that restrictions would not be lifted on the Nvidia H2O chips that are used to train AI services. “I’m talking about possible export controls on other semiconductors, which are also very important to them.
Earlier on Monday, Chinese government figures showed exports rose less than expected last month as the worst drop in shipments to the US in more than five years counteracted strong demand from other markets.
Bloomberg reported on Friday that the US dominates in ethane, a gas used to make plastics, and China buys nearly all of it. Washington is now tightening control by requiring export licenses. China’s curbs on exports of rare earth minerals, crucial for autos and more, have drawn Washington’s ire.
Meanwhile, Trump’s most sweeping tariffs face legal uncertainty after a federal appeals court allowed the tariffs to temporarily stay in effect, a day after the US Court of International Trade blocked their implementation, deeming the method used to enact them “unlawful.”
