On Tuesday, the US-China trade teams spent the entire day in London engaging in talks, which continued into the evening as they sought to make a breakthrough on the contentious issue of export controls. According to Bloomberg, US Treasury officials stated that the two teams were still discussing technical details late into Tuesday night, with the possibility of the meeting extending into the wee hours.
Prior to 5:30 pm on Tuesday afternoon, journalists observed members of the Chinese delegation leaving the meeting venue at Lancaster House to take a break. The grand Lancaster House, located near Buckingham Palace in the UK, is an opulent Georgian mansion. Sources indicated that negotiations were expected to resume around 8 pm.
The US-China teams commenced trade negotiations in London on Monday, lasting nearly 7 hours. On Tuesday morning at 10:40 am, they reconvened for further talks. The crux of these negotiations revolves around reaffirming the terms of the agreement reached in Geneva last month. The US interpretation of the agreement is that Beijing will allow more rare earth exports to US customers. However, the US has recently accused China of failing to uphold the Geneva agreement and continuing to withhold rare earth minerals that should be shipped to the US.
For the US, a key focus of the London talks is to ensure that China relaxes its export controls on rare earth minerals. Sources informed Bloomberg that as a reciprocal gesture, the Trump administration is prepared to lift a series of recent export control measures targeting chip design software, jet engine parts, chemicals, and nuclear materials. Most of these measures were implemented over the past few weeks amid escalating tensions between the US and China.
According to Reuters, trade expert William Reinsch from the Center for Strategic and International Studies remarked that the lengthy duration of the London meeting may indicate the challenges in negotiations. However, he anticipated that both sides would “eventually reach some form of agreement.”
The US delegation at the negotiations primarily includes US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. On the other hand, the Chinese delegation comprises Vice Premier of the State Council He Lifeng, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao, and Deputy Minister of Commerce and International Trade Negotiator Li Chenggang.