Trump-Xi Jinping Meets, China Finally Suspends Rare Earth Metal Export Restrictions

Shenzhen, China/ILLUSTRATION UNSPLASH/LEoon

JAKARTA - China will suspend restrictions on the export of rare earth metals (rareearth) to the United States (US) for one year.

The decision was announced by the Chinese Ministry of Trade after a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, at the same time confirming the statement previously made by Trump.

China will suspend the implementation of export control measures announced on October 9 for one year, and will study and refine its specific plans, said an official statement from the ministry as reported by ANTARA from Anadolu, Thursday, October 30.

The ministry explained that China would make appropriate adjustments to the countermeasures for the United States tariff.

The two countries also agreed to continue to extend certain tariff exclusion policies.

The United States will suspend one year of implementing the new rules announced on September 29, which expands export restrictions on the entity list against any company it owns by at least 50 percent by one or more entities already on the list, the statement continued.

Previously, Trump stated that AS will relax tariffs on goods from China in exchange for restrictions on the flow of fentanyl, resume purchases of soybeans from the US, and continue to open exports of rare earth metals to his country.

The US also plans to lower fares related to fentanyl from 20 percent to 10 percent, bringing the total tariff burden down from 57 percent to 47 percent.

On October 9, China expanded export restrictions on rare metals by setting restrictions on processing and manufacturing technology, as well as banning cooperation with foreign companies without government permits first.

Trump responded to the policy with the threat of imposing a rate of up to 100 percent on goods from China and limiting critical software exports to the country.

He had stated that the new tariff would take effect from November 1 beyond the current tariff, but later softened, which paved the way for meetings with Xi and eased tensions between the two countries.