Washington and Beijing, on June 26, appeared to have finalized a deal meant to unblock rare-earth exports from China, more than six weeks after China first made the offer.
President Donald Trump said Thursday that the agreement was “signed”; hours later, on Friday, China’s Commerce Ministry issued a statement pledging to “review and approve applications for the export of eligible controlled items in accordance with the law.”
During mid-May talks in Geneva, Beijing linked the resumption of rare earth exports to Washington, cutting the incremental tariff rate on Chinese goods entering the United States from 145 percent to 30 percent. Yet six weeks passed—and after follow-up talks in London on June 9–10—with no deliveries….