Rare earths at the heart of tensions between Beijing and Washington
On Friday, May 30, Donald Trump accused Beijing of violating the interim tariff agreement reached on May 12 in Geneva. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce denied the claim and promised a "firm response." The culprit: rare earth export licenses, which Beijing reportedly approves only sparingly, to the point of endangering the American auto industry.
“China has totally violated the agreement they had with us,” Donald Trump announced on May 30 in a message posted on his Truth Social network. “I made a deal with China very quickly to save them from what I thought was a very bad situation, because I didn’t want it to happen. But, unsurprisingly to some, China violated the agreement. Screw the good guy!” The US president did not provide any further details, reports the Financial Times , which reproduced these remarks, but Beijing’s response was swift.
On Monday, June 2, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce issued a statement refuting these accusations, pointing to the multiple “discriminatory and restrictive measures” taken in recent days by the United States against China and promising “a firm response.”
Two weeks after Geneva announced a three-month pause in the trade war between them, not only are negotiations between Beijing and Washington at a standstill, but tensions are rising again, Bloomberg notes . “The Trump administration announced last week its intention to revoke visas for Chinese students and restrict the sale of design software
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