Trump, Xi Announce Trade Truce — But Several Key Issues Still Unresolved?

The United States and China have struck yet another deal that is going to be aimed at defusing trade tensions. However major differences between the two economic giants remain, and the details of the new arrangement are very less in public domain.

US President Donald Trump has confirmed that an agreement had been “signed the other day” while China’s Commerce Ministry on Friday acknowledged the pact without elaborating on its scope. 

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The announcement follows weeks of high-level negotiations, including sessions in London and Geneva, and comes just days before a July 8 deadline, after which the US is set to reimpose suspended trade tariffs.

The latest agreement appears to focus on easing export restrictions and tariff pressures. According to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Beijing has agreed to simplify procedures for American companies seeking access to rare earth minerals and magnets — vital resources for the electronics and defense industries. China had previously slowed shipments of these critical materials amid escalating friction over US tech sanctions.

In return, the US is expected to lift a series of restrictive measures targeting Chinese firms, although the specifics were not mentioned. China’s Commerce Ministry stated only that “eligible export applications for controlled items” would be reviewed and approved in accordance with Chinese law, and that Washington would withdraw some curbs.

The trade truce builds upon a "framework" declared earlier this month after Trump and Chinese officials met in London, where China pledged to reopen rare earth exports and the US backed off from plans to revoke student visas for Chinese nationals. That, in turn, followed a Geneva meeting in which both sides agreed to dramatically scale back tariffs that had reached 125% on US goods and 145% on Chinese imports. Post-agreement, those rates dropped to 30% and 10%, respectively.

Since returning to office in January, Trump has taken an aggressive stance on trade, rolling out blanket 10% import tariffs globally and floating additional “reciprocal” levies on countries with trade surpluses against the US. These ranged between 11% and 50% but were temporarily paused following a market downturn triggered by fears of global trade disruption.

With that suspension due to expire on July 8, trade talks with other partners — including India and the EU — are also intensifying. Trump has made it clear: nations unwilling to lower their trade barriers may soon face steep duties.

Despite the apparent easing of tensions, economists warn that the core disputes such as technology transfers, state subsidies, and geopolitical mistrust remain unresolved. Without structural reforms or binding timelines, the latest agreement is seen as a truce rather than a deal.