Trump hails progress with China, but details are sketchy

President Donald J. Trump said Wednesday that the United States and China had struck a deal to roll back some of the punitive measures they had taken against each other's economies in recent months, including his administration’s recently proposed restrictions on Chinese students attending US universities.

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The agreement followed two days of marathon negotiations in London and will return the countries to the terms of a trade truce they had reached in May, following weeks of escalating tensions between them.

"OUR DEAL WITH CHINA IS DONE, SUBJECT TO FINAL APPROVAL WITH PRESIDENT XI AND ME," Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. "RELATIONSHIP IS EXCELLENT!"

The full details of the agreement were not immediately released. But it essentially involves China relaxing its restrictions on shipments of valuable rare earth minerals and magnets needed by US manufacturers. In return, US officials would roll back limits that they had placed on exports of US products and technology, including ethane and airplane parts, as well as the proposed visa restrictions. Both had been intended to put pressure on the Chinese.

Tariffs between the countries will remain unchanged. In his Truth Social post, Mr. Trump wrote that US tariffs on China would be "a total of 55%.“ That total adds together a 30% tariff he put on products from China in the last few months with a 25% tariff he imposed on some Chinese products during his first term. In reality, some tariffs on Chinese products are lower and many significantly higher.

While Mr. Trump described the agreement as a "deal," officials did not announce progress on any other trade issues, beyond rolling back the tit-for-tat measures taken against each other afterMr. Trump ratcheted up tariffs on Chinese products in early April.

Wendy Cutler, the vice-president of the Asia Society and a former US trade negotiator, said the United States "appears to have paid a heavy price" for regaining access to Chinese critical minerals and magnets, by putting export controls over technology on the negotiating table.