China and the US seek another major trade deal in London: "Talks are going well."

BarcelonaThe United States and China are once again immersed in important negotiations on neutral territory to narrow their trade positions. While they emerged from Geneva in early May with a major agreement—which involved the partial suspension of reciprocal tariffs for ninety days—where the first meeting since the escalation of the trade war was held, a similar outcome is now expected from London, where senior officials from both administrations have been meeting since Monday to monitor the export of goods, such as rare earths and semiconductors, which have once again pitted the two countries against each other.

The Geneva agreement didn't last long, and since that agreement, which marked a major step forward in the trade relations between these two giants, both countries have accused each other of hindering trade in advanced semiconductors that fuel artificial intelligence, rare earths—vital for car manufacturers—and Chinese students from studying at American universities. However, for now, the meeting appears to be on track, although it may be finalized this Wednesday, beyond the scheduled deadline. "The talks are going well; we are spending a lot of time together," said US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday, who did not participate in the Geneva meeting but joined the London talks. Lutnick leads the US delegation along with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Gree. On the other side of the table is Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, a confidant of Chinese President Xi Jinping. The negotiating teams broke at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday (4:30 p.m. in London) until 8:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. there).

The director of the US National Economic Council, Kevin Hassett, said in an interview on CNBC on Monday that his priority is to stop China from slowing the arrival of rare earths that American companies need. "I expect it to be a short meeting that ends with a firm handshake. Immediately after that handshake, US export controls will be relaxed and rare earths will be released again in large quantities, and then we'll move on to smaller items," Hassett said. Since April, the Chinese government has required producers to obtain a license to export seven types of rare earths—there are 17 types worldwide and they are so named because, although they are abundant on the planet, they are very difficult to find in isolation. In fact, it is the shortage of these metals that has put automakers around the world, including in the United States, on alert. At the end of May, the Ford automaker had to shut down a plant in Chicago that manufactures SUVs for this reason.