Aug 3, 2025 - Economy

U.S. "halfway there" with China on rare earth minerals, trade rep says

Ben Berkowitz

Construction site with four yellow excavators and loaders working in a tiered dirt pit. — Rare earth mineral mining in China. Photo: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The U.S. is making progress in talks with China on access to rare earth minerals and other trade issues, but an extension to their tariff truce isn't yet final, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Sunday.

Why it matters: The China trade relationship is of paramount importance to U.S. business leaders and financial markets, particularly the access to rare earth magnets, a crucial component for hundreds of products.

That access was the core piece of the trade truce struck in Geneva in May, and the subsequent talks in London in June after the truce faltered. Both sides met again this past week in Stockholm to keep negotiating.

What they're saying: "China has put a global control on the world, and so for the United States, we're focused on making sure that the flow of magnets from from China to the United States and the - and the adjacent supply chain can flow as freely as it did before the control, and I'd say we're about halfway there," Greer told "Face the Nation" host Margaret Brennan.

The intrigue: The tariff-lowering truce between the world's two largest economies is due to expire on Aug. 12.

After the Stockholm talks, the Chinese said it would be extended, but U.S. officials have said their counterparts got ahead of themselves.
"That's something we're working toward. That's what we talked about," Greer said, adding that the final decision remained with President Trump.

What to watch: Whether the truce is extended in the coming week.

Financial markets, already nervous about a weakening economy, could get increasingly jittery as the deadline draws closer.

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U.S. "halfway there" with China on rare earth minerals, trade rep says

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