US-China summit focuses on extension of 'trade truce' to restrict rare earth exports

[Washington, Beijing Current Affairs] The U.S.-China summit meeting on the 24th will focus on extending the "trade truce" that halts stricter export controls on rare earths produced in China. The deadline is November 10, but delays in obtaining export permits on the Chinese side have not been resolved, hampering talks. Exports to Japan have plummeted due to deteriorating relations between Japan and China, and it is clear that China is using rare earths as a diplomatic card.

Immediately after the inauguration of the second Trump administration, the US-China conflict escalated into a trade war with tariffs exceeding 100%. In April last year, China, the world's largest producer of rare earths, tightened export controls worldwide as a countermeasure. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's comments regarding the Taiwan emergency have soured relations between Japan and China, leading to stricter restrictions on the transfer of military and civilian goods to Japan.

The extension of the trade truce was postponed at the U.S.-China ministerial talks on the 20th. U.S. Trade Representative Greer criticized China's rare earth restrictions for "creating uncertainty." According to Western media, there have been cases in which Chinese companies have refused to ship to American companies. Regarding the extension period, the United States insisted on a six-month extension period, while China insisted on an extension period until the end of the Trump administration's term, with no agreement reached.

While China's total rare earth exports increased, exports to important items and to specific countries were suppressed. In 2025, the total amount was approximately 63,000 tons, the highest in the past 10 years, but exports of permanent magnets needed for electric vehicles (EVs) to the United States decreased by approximately 20% from the previous year. Although there was a pick-up this year, exports to Japan continued to stagnate, and exports to Japan halved in July compared to the same month last year.

As this year's chairman of the Group of 20 (G20), the United States included the issue of stabilizing the supply chain for important minerals in the chairman's statement, but took the unusual step of naming China as the only country that opposed it. In his meeting with Prime Minister Takaichi on the 22nd, US President Trump also confirmed cooperation towards stable procurement of rare earths. Will they be able to reach an agreement to extend the stalled US-China trade truce? The effectiveness of the summit agreement will be tested.