China gives no details on tariff agreement with US

China is keeping a low profile following the agreement announced by US President Donald Trump on easing export restrictions in the ongoing trade dispute. Both sides have made new progress in resolving the other side's economic and trade concerns, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian in Beijing. The People's Republic hopes that both sides can work together to implement the consensus reached.

Trump has already announced an agreement

US President Donald Trump had announced on his online platform Truth Social an agreement between both regions to reduce export restrictions on rare earths. According to him, China has agreed to supply certain raw materials such as rare earths to the US. In return, Washington promises that students from China would continue to be admitted to US universities.

Trump also wrote that there was an agreement between the world's two largest economies amid the tariff dispute. The tariffs on imports from China to the US would be 55 percent. China will impose punitive tariffs of 10 percent on goods from the US, Trump said.

Negotiation marathon in London

On Monday and Tuesday, representatives from both countries negotiated on neutral ground in London. Afterwards, Beijing and Washington's envoys declared that they wanted to implement the consensus from the meeting in Geneva in mid-May.

In Switzerland, China and the US had agreed at the time to reduce mutual import tariffs by 115 percentage points each and enacted a 90-day break for further negotiations. What exactly is in the Geneva Agreement and the London Agreement remains unclear. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick indicated in London that a written version of the Pact will not be published.

Some observers pointed out that the negotiations did not represent any progress, but merely a return to the situation of a few months ago. In addition, the talks had shown how China could use its role as the main global producer of rare earths and magnets to make concessions in negotiations, according to various US media reports.(DPA)