United States and China reached last Wednesday a preliminary agreement to reactivate the commercial truce for a period of six months. The two -day trade negotiations in London They culminated in a temporary frame to implement the consensus of Geneva, through which the United States establishes new tariffs and China more flexible the export licenses of their rare earths.
The context: May 10, the United States and China They gathered in Geneva For your first meeting aimed at negotiating the reciprocal tariffs. Two days later, they reached an agreement for the de -escalated: United States reduced Chinese export tariffs from 145% to 30%while China established 10% tariffs on US imports.
There were no changes to the most sensitive measure: the restriction of rare earth export imposed by China after meeting The first tariff fees of the US government. Since then, the dancing of measures and counterweights has not ceased.
The novelty. After new rounds of conversation in Landinense Lancaster A new agreement To reduce commercial tensions. On the part of the United States, a 55% tariff is proposed to the importation of Chinese products, the admission of Chinese students in their universities, and export controls to products such as reaction engines and gases such as ethane, a key raw material for the petrochemical industry are flexible.
China maintains a 10% tariff to imports from the United States and relaxes license concessions for six months to exports from the key to move or paralyze a good part of the world industry: Rare earths.
It is not a victory for the United States. That China temporarily flexible the export of rare earths is not a symptom of commercial weakness, It is a symptom of power. The country led by Xi Jinping has control over the extraction and processing of rare earths (and all the necessary elements to work with them).
The agreement is proof that, each time China wants to negotiate, it has only to open or close the tap. These materials are and will be critical as ammunition for future negotiations. If the United States squeezes, China will drown with the export of licenses. Rare earths are the center of the Chinese defensive strategy, and key to stabilize the trade of key components for strategic sectors such as the electric, defense, computing or chemical industry.
Nor will it go free. Financial Times sources They ensure that the granting of rare earth licenses will be subject to strict export controls. Among them, the demand for commercial information as a currency to the supply.
The Ministry of Commerce would be requesting details about the production process as part of its approval process. Concrete data about its operations, personnel, final use applications, production information, product images or facilities, are some of the data that China would be demanding from its customers, according to Frank Eckard (Executive Director of Magnosphere, German manufacturer of magnets).
The consequences. Licenous restriction measures for rare earth export was beginning to drown certain industries. In the United States, companies like Ford They had to stop part of their productionand they have not been the only ones. Is A measure with global impactsince the supply chain is interconnected. Suzuki in Japan had to stop Swift productionand The tensions about the future of the data centers were in the air.
On the United States side, it is especially relevant that their currency is the admission of Chinese students in their universities. China is the first worldwide “factory” of students Stem: 38% of the experts in Americans come from there. The tariff, raised to 55%, remains a sign of the tension and commercial pulse. A constant dance figure with which Trump tries to mark his dominant position.
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