WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The United States will ask China to increase rare earth metals exports at talks in London, Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council, said.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump said that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer would meet with a Chinese delegation in London on June 9 to resolve trade disagreements between the two countries.
«Those exports of critical minerals have been getting released at a rate that is, you know, higher than it was, but not as high as we believe we agreed to in Geneva,» Hassett told the media. «We want the rare earths, the magnets that are crucial for cell phones and everything else, to flow just as they did before the beginning of April.»
In early April, China placed 16 US companies on an export control list for dual-use goods, according to a document published by the Chinese Commerce Ministry. As the New York Times noted, Beijing suspended exports of a wide range of essential minerals and magnets, which are needed, in particular, to assemble cars, drones, robots and rockets. On Saturday, the Chinese Commerce Ministry announced its readiness to strengthen dialogue with other countries on export controls for rare earth elements.
