China's international trade representative, Li Chenggang, is scheduled to travel to Washington to engage in trade discussions with U.S. officials in what would be the highest level Chinese official to visit Washington since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office in January, and the first to visit since the trade war between Washington and Beijing took place this past spring.
The visit was first reported in Western media, which stated Li would meet with “Deputy-level officials”, but it was then confirmed by China’s Commerce Ministry on Tuesday The ministry’s spokesperson verified that Li would travel to Washington.
The statement put out by the ministry, while not specifying a date emphasized that any talks would be conducted on the basis of “mutual respect and equality.”.
While it is not known exactly what Li will discuss with the American officials, though the number 1 factor in the trade war, as well as the truce that was agreed to in May and extended this past month for another 90 days, would be rare earth minerals.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump made a comment alongside South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the White House that if China does not supply rare earth magnets, essential for industries like automotive, electronics, and defense, the U.S. could impose tariffs as high as 200%. He stated, “They have to give us magnets, if they don’t give us magnets, then we have to charge them 200% tariffs or something,” and added, “We have much bigger and better cards than they do. If I played those cards, that would destroy China. I’m not going to play those cards.”
However, China, who accounts for approximately 60-70% of global rare earth mining and 85-90% of processing, has a near monopoly on the vital resources
Over the Spring and early summer, when China began restricting the export of rare earth magnets vital for the U.S. industries, a few automotive factories had to temporarily stop production due to the shortage of the magnets, this led to a meeting in London between US. And Chinese delegations in June in which China agreed to ease the restrictions on the exports.