The announcements followed a phone call between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, which Trump described as a “very good talk.”
Last month, the world’s two largest economies agreed to a temporary truce that included lowering import tariffs on traded goods. However, since then, both sides have accused each other of violating the terms of the agreement.
U.S. and Chinese officials are set to meet in London on Monday for a new round of trade negotiations aimed at resolving the ongoing dispute between the world’s two largest economies.
President Donald Trump confirmed that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will represent the U.S. in the talks. On Saturday, China’s foreign ministry announced that Vice Premier He Lifeng would be in the UK from June 8 to 13, with the talks falling under the framework of the "China-U.S. economic and trade mechanism."
This latest round follows a phone conversation between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last Thursday, which Trump described as having “resulted in a very positive conclusion for both countries.” According to China’s state news agency Xinhua, Xi urged the U.S. to “withdraw the negative measures it has taken against China.”
The call marked the first direct communication between the two leaders since the trade war began in February. After Trump imposed broad tariffs on imports earlier this year—with China receiving the brunt of the impact—Beijing retaliated with its own set of steep tariffs. This back-and-forth escalation peaked with tariffs as high as 145%.
A temporary truce was reached in May during talks in Switzerland, which Trump called a “total reset.” As part of the agreement, the U.S. reduced tariffs on Chinese goods to 30%, while China cut levies on U.S. imports to 10% and pledged to ease restrictions on critical mineral exports.
The trade conflict also saw export controls, with the U.S. halting some technology sales, including semiconductors, and China limiting the export of rare earth minerals—materials crucial to U.S. tech manufacturing. Artemis fund manager Swetha Ramachandran told the BBC that Commerce Secretary Lutnick’s participation in the talks is a “welcome addition,” noting his role in implementing stringent technology export controls. She emphasized the significance of rare earths, where China dominates with 69% of global production, making them a vital bargaining chip.
The May agreement gave both sides 90 days to reach a broader deal.
However, fresh economic data from Beijing released Monday showed signs of strain. While exports rose by 4.8% year-on-year in May, the figure fell short of expectations. Meanwhile, imports dropped by 3.4%—a steeper decline than the predicted 0.9%—suggesting that the temporary trade truce has yet to stabilize China’s economic outlook.
But since then, relations appeared to have soured. Last month, Trump said China had "totally violated its agreement with us", and then a few days later China said the US had "severely violated" the agreement.
The US accused China of failing to restart shipments of critical minerals and rare earth magnets vital to car and computer industries.
On Saturday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said it had approved some applications for rare earth export licences, although it did not provide details of which countries involved.
The announcement came after Trump said on Friday that Xi had agreed to restart trade in rare earth materials.
Bu speaking on Sunday, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CBS News that "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".
