Video: US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick speaking to reporters in a briefing on Wednesday.
The United States and China have agreed on a framework to implement their trade truce, officials said Wednesday, after concluding talks in London to defuse tensions and ease export restrictions. US president Donald Trump has revealed details of the massive new trade deal, mentioning that the trade framework includes a 55% tariff on Chinese imports to the U.S. and a 10% tariff on U.S. imports to China.
Officials on both sides will now take the proposal back to their leaders for approval, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters in a briefing on Wednesday. “If that is approved, we will then implement the framework,” he said.
According to Lutnick, the framework for the trade agreement will build on an agreement that the two countries reached in Geneva in May to de-escalate the trade war.
“It was the combination of the Geneva consensus, and the call president Trump made to President Xi which made us to feel very confident that we will work this out,” Lutnick said on his X social account.
The framework for a trade agreement between the United States and China has not yet been finally approved by the countries’ presidents.
“Once the presidents approve it, we will then seek to implement it,” he said.
While neither side disclosed any specifics of the deal, Lutnick indicated that they have reached a framework despite “the complex issues.”
However, the US president Donald Trump confirmed the deal on Truth Social on Wednesday and gave few details about the framework. “Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval with President Xi and me. Full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China. Likewise, we will provide to China what was agreed to, including Chinese students using our colleges and universities – which has always been good with me. We are getting a total of 55% tariffs, China is getting 10%.”
Three top Trump administration economic officials had talks in London the recent days with Chinese negotiators in a renewed effort to seal a long-standing trade agreement.
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer met China’s delegation in London on June 9.
Trump disclosed the planned trade discussions following an extensive telephone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.
“The meeting should go very well,” President Donald Trump wrote in a social media post announcing the talks on Friday.
The meeting was the first official talk between the two countries since they mutually lowered tariffs in a temporary truce in May, after talks in Geneva.
The latest round of talks held in London underscored the increasingly central role export curbs have played in the trade war between the world’s largest economies.
Market analysts say now investors would be keen to get a closer look at the details of the agreement.
