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The Trump administration warned Beijing during a high-level call that it must fully implement commitments made under last year’s Busan trade agreement with particular focus on rare earth deliveries and agricultural purchases according to Reuters. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer spoke with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng to stress the need for concrete action ahead of planned meetings between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping. The US Trade Representative’s Office said in a statement that Ambassador Greer highlighted the critical importance of China taking steps to meet its obligations on these fronts.
Reuters reported that the Busan pact reached in October 2025 capped US tariffs on Chinese goods at around 20 percent while Beijing pledged to purchase 25 million metric tons of American soybeans over three years and increase buys of other farm products by 17 billion dollars. A separate White House announcement earlier this year set an additional annual target of 17 billion dollars in US agricultural goods from 2026 onward with adjustments for the current year. US officials have indicated that progress on the wider relationship will be measured by results on the ground rather than statements alone.
US Geological Survey figures show China mined 270000 metric tons of rare earth oxides in 2025 accounting for 69 percent of global output while International Energy Agency data indicates the country controls 91 percent of refining and 94 percent of permanent magnet production. In the call Bessent emphasized the importance of full and immediate implementation of the Busan terms while raising concerns over recent Chinese measures that could affect compliance. The agreement also involved suspension of certain export controls on minerals including gallium germanium and antimony to support US end-users worldwide according to a Treasury Department readout.
China’s commerce ministry stated this week that it remains open to further agricultural purchases provided the United States follows through on reciprocal tariff reductions according to reports citing ministry spokespeople. American assessments have found Beijing meeting its soybean targets but falling short on broader farm goods and rare earths with fulfillment estimated at roughly two-thirds of pledged volumes in some categories. The upcoming Trump-Xi discussions on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit are expected to address these gaps directly while a Bloomberg Intelligence assessment projected global neodymium-praseodymium demand to rise 50 percent by 2030 from 2024 levels.
The trade truce is set to expire on January 10 with both sides monitoring implementation closely through bilateral forums established after earlier summits. Industry groups have warned that disruptions in rare earth flows could impact global supply chains valued in the hundreds of billions of dollars annually according to analyses from the International Energy Agency. Greer reiterated in the statement that concrete actions on agricultural purchases rare earths and critical minerals would determine the trajectory of bilateral economic ties while US production of key rare earths has more than tripled in recent years yet still covers only 42 percent of domestic demand per Benchmark Mineral Intelligence data.
