US seeks to seal rare earths deal with China by thanksgiving

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that Washington aims to finalize a rare earths supply deal with China by Thanksgiving at the end of November.

The agreement, initially reached in late October during a meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in South Korea, would see China suspend for one year its export restrictions on certain critical minerals. China dominates global mining and processing of rare earths, which are vital for high-tech components used in automotive, electronics and defense industries.

“We haven’t even finished the agreement, which we hope to have done by Thanksgiving,” Bessent said on Fox News, expressing confidence that China would honor the commitments made during the leaders’ meeting. He added that the United States has “lots of levers” to respond if Beijing does not follow through.

Bessent said the deal would restore the free flow of rare earths halted since April 4, when China imposed new export license requirements in retaliation for Trump’s broad tariffs. In return, the United States would scale back duties on Chinese imports, while China would resume purchases of American soybeans—agreeing to buy at least 12 million metric tons by year’s end and 25 million metric tons in 2026.

China had stopped buying US soybeans during the tariff war, a move Bessent said turned American farmers into “pawns,” but he argued the new agreement addresses those concerns.