Trade Talks Between U.S. and China Started Today. Here’s What To Know

Monday’s U.S.-China trade talks covered more than just tariffs.

U.S. and China officials met in London Monday to discuss trade, in what could be a de-escalation of the trade war between the world’s two largest economies. The talks wrapped up by mid-afternoon Eastern time and were set to continue Tuesday, Bloomberg reported. The talks reportedly covered technology transfer and rare earth metals.

Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said ahead of the meeting that one goal of the negotiations was to get China to end the restrictions on rare earth exports. China imposed the restrictions in April at the high point of trade tensions between the two countries. China controls much of the world’s supply of rare earth minerals such as neodymium and Terbium, which are used in the manufacture of electric cars, drones, and advanced electronics.

“We want the rare earths—the magnets that are crucial for cell phones and everything else—to flow just as they did before the beginning of April, and we don’t want any technical details slowing that down,” Hassett said on CBS’s Face the Nation over the weekend.

American industry has been hit hard by China’s rare earth export restrictions. Reuters reported last week that several U.S. automakers are facing shortages and halting production of certain vehicles.

“We are doing well with China,” President Donald Trump said at a business roundtable around the time Monday’s negotiations were finishing up. “China is not easy.”

Securing sources of rare earths has been a key goal of Trump’s foreign policy early in his term. Trump has cited access to rare earths as a justification for “acquiring” Greenland, and last month signed an agreement with Ukraine giving U.S. companies preferential treatment in mining rare earth deposits in the war-torn nation.

The talks could also cover other issues, including the high import taxes the two nations have imposed on one another.

The U.S. suspended some of its highest tariffs against China, which had been as high as 145% in April, for 90 days to allow for negotiations. The pause expires in August. In the meantime, the two countries still have high tariffs on one another.

Combining various tariffs, the U.S. charges an average tariff of 51% against Chinese products, and China a 32.6% tariff on the U.S., the Peterson Institute for International Economics calculated in mid-May.

The outcome of the talks could have major implications for the trajectory of the economy in both countries, and for U.S. consumers, who could face shortages or steep price hikes for many products made in China if the trade war escalates.

Update, June 9, 2025: This article has been updated to reflect the end of the first day of negotiations.