US, China have reached ‘framework’ of trade deal on rare earths, soybeans and tariffs: Scott Bessent

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that China was ready to make a deal “after two days of negotiations” and a “framework” is ready for a meeting between President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping this week that is intended to avoid the harsher tariffs. Bessent said the US and China will likely avoid 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods after negotiators settled on a plan for a possible trade agreement. In an interview with NBC News’ Kristen Welker, Bessent said that “after two days of negotiations” with Chinese International Trade Representative Li Chenggang in Malaysia, a “framework” of a deal has been reached. Trump and Xi Jinping are to meet in South Korea on Thursday.

Earlier this month, Trump announced he would impose 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods by Nov. 1 after Beijing said foreign entities need to obtain a license to export any products containing over 0.1 per cent of rare earth minerals, either sourced in China or manufacturing via its extraction process. China controls roughly 70 per cent of the globe’s rare earths.

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“President Trump gave me a great deal of negotiating leverage with the threat of the 100 per cent tariffs, and I believe we’ve reached a very substantial framework that will avoid that and allow us to discuss many other things with the Chinese,” Bessent told NBC.

“I think we will be able to discuss them helping us get this terrible fentanyl crisis under control,” Bessent said. “I think we are going to be able to discuss substantial soybean and [agriculture] purchases for our American farmers.”

China’s top trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, said on Sunday that China and the US had reached a preliminary consensus after discussions on a range of issues, including the extension of their trade truce, fentanyl, and export controls.

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Li and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng held talks in Malaysia over the weekend with a US trade delegation that included Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

Earlier in the day, Trump signed trade deals with Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) conference in Kuala Lumpur.

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Bessent also said that Trump will likely meet with Xi in Beijing prior to the Lunar New Year on Feb. 17. The two will also meet when Xi visits the US next fall for the Group of 20 summit.

“We’ve agreed to meet. We’re going to meet them later in China, and we’re going to meet in the US, in either Washington or at Mar-a-Lago,” Trump told reporters.

Last week, Trump predicted he and Xi would make a deal on “everything,” highlighting the US’s efforts to curb the flow of fentanyl from China, boost purchases of American soybeans and de-escalate nuclear tensions.

WATCH: Bessent: US & China Set 'Positive Framework' For Trade Talks Ahead of Trump-Xi Meeting