The United States and China have agreed on new tariffs and cooperation protocols
The United States Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick officially announced the achievement of an important agreement between Washington and Beijing on tariff restrictions and trade commitments. According to him, the two countries signed the final version of the document two days ago, laying the foundation for the gradual removal of trade barriers, as well as establishing new conditions for interaction in the field of strategic resources and technologies. The source of this information was the broadcast of Bloomberg Television, where the head of the American ministry reported that the agreement was the result of two stages of negotiations: the first took place in Geneva, and the second in London. It was a long-term process, during which the parties made compromises, clearly defining the framework of future trade relations. According to the details, the signed document regulates not only the reduction of tariff duties, but also provides for mutual obligations regarding the supply of strategic materials. It is important that China is obliged to resume supplies of rare earth elements to the United States, which are indispensable for numerous industrial sectors, including the production of high-tech products. In response, Washington promised to gradually lift restrictions on exports to China of a number of important materials and technologies. This also applies to ethane, which is widely used in the production of plastics, as well as software for creating microcircuits and jet engines. At the same time, Howard Lutnick emphasized that the lifting of restrictions will not be automatic and complete until supplies of magnets and other strategic components begin to arrive from China. “They will supply us with rare earth elements, and as soon as this happens, we will lift our countermeasures,” the minister noted. This indicates that we can soon expect a gradual lifting of trade restrictions, which will be a signal to the resumption of stable cooperation in trade. It is expected that the final approval of this agreement depends on the decision of the US leadership - President Donald Trump - and the leader of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping. It is their signatures that should decide the fate of a new trade pact, which could significantly affect the global economic situation and reconsider the tensions in global trade between the world's two largest economies.