US seeks deal in London on China rare earth flows, says Trump's economic advisor
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said China's exports of critical minerals have fallen short of what was previously agreed. PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON – US negotiators will aim to restore the flow of critical minerals when they meet their Chinese counterparts for a new round of trade negotiations on June 9 in London, a top economic aide to President Donald Trump said.
'Those exports of critical minerals have been getting released at a rate that is, you know, higher than it was but not as high as we believe we agreed to in Geneva,' Mr Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said on June 8 during an interview on CBS News' Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.
Rare earth flows became a new flashpoint in the testy bilateral relations in recent weeks. Top US officials including Trade Representative Jamieson Greer accused Beijing of failing to comply with the elements of the trade agreement brokered in May in Geneva by slowing down and choking off critical minerals needed for cutting-edge electronics.
Mr Trump on June 6 described talks with China as 'very far advanced' and said that Mr Xi Jinping agreed to speed shipments of the critical rare-earth minerals. China said on June 7 it approved some applications for rare earth exports but didn't elaborate on the products' applications or destinations.
'I'm very comfortable that this deal is about to be closed,' Mr Hassett told CBS, without elaborating on the exact terms to be negotiated by the two sides during the London talks.
'We want the rare earths, the magnets that are crucial for cellphones and everything else, to flow just as they did before the beginning of April,' he said. 'We don't want any technical details slowing that down.' BLOOMBERG
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