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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Sunday that Washington is pushing to finalise a deal with China by the Thanksgiving holiday (November 27) to secure the supply of rare earth minerals.
The tentative agreement, reached by Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in late October, involves Beijing agreeing to temporarily suspend export restrictions on these critical minerals for one year.
Rare earths are vital components in industries ranging from electronics to defence, and China currently holds a dominant position in their mining and processing.
Bessent expressed confidence that China would honour the agreement but cautioned that the US retains “lots of levers” for retaliation if Beijing fails to comply.
Under the broader deal, the US will reduce tariffs on Chinese goods.
In return, China has committed to purchasing large quantities of American agricultural products, including at least 12 million metric tonnes of soybeans by the end of this year.
Bessent noted that this remedies the previous situation where China had stopped buying US soybeans in response to Trump’s tariffs, claiming the farmers were used as “pawns.”
