The United States and China have reached a framework agreement to put their trade truce back on track, according to officials from both countries. The deal, reached after two days of intense negotiations in London, aims to ease bilateral retaliatory tariffs that had reached triple-digit levels.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the framework deal puts “meat on the bones” of an agreement reached last month in Geneva. The Geneva deal had faltered over China’s continued curbs on critical minerals exports, prompting the Trump administration to respond with export controls of its own.
The agreement reached in London would remove some of the recent US export restrictions, but details were not provided after the talks concluded. Lutnick said the framework would need to be approved by President Trump and President Xi before implementation. China’s Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang also confirmed that a trade framework had been reached in principle.
While the deal may prevent the Geneva agreement from unravelling, it does little to resolve deep differences over Trump’s unilateral tariffs and longstanding US complaints about China’s state-led economic model. The two sides have until August 10 to negotiate a more comprehensive agreement to ease trade tensions.