


President Donald Trump announced Wednesday morning that the United States is one step away from finalizing a trade deal with Beijing and that it is awaiting only final approval from him and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Under the latest agreement, the U.S. will continue to impose 55% tariffs on China, while Beijing will retain a 10% tariff on American goods, according to Trump. The president said China also made key concessions on rare earth minerals exports to the U.S., a sticking point in negotiations, as the products are critical to the automotive, defense, and energy industries.
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In exchange, Trump will allow Chinese students to study at U.S. universities such as Harvard despite his previous concerns that some countries, such as China, are “paying nothing toward their [students’] education.” The Trump administration recently attempted to revoke Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, which prohibited Harvard from enrolling foreign students, many of whom come from China.
“Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval with President Xi and me,” Trump said in a post to Truth Social.
“Full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China,” he continued. “Likewise, we will provide to China what was agreed to, including Chinese students using our colleges and universities (which has always been good with me!). We are getting a total of 55% tariffs, China is getting 10%. Relationship is excellent!”
The 55% number is a combination of the 20% fentanyl tariff, 25% tariffs due to unfair trade practices allowed under Section 301, and the 10% reciprocal baseline tariff.
The deal comes one month after the U.S. and China reached a preliminary trade agreement following negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, in which Beijing sought relief from Trump’s 145% tariffs. However, the May 11 deal faltered due to accusations from both countries of agreement violations.

In recent days, the talks have revived, with top U.S. and Chinese negotiators meeting in London on Monday and Tuesday to hammer out the agreement.
“We have reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters following the two-day huddle.
“Once the presidents approve it, we will then seek to implement it,” he added.
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Trump also held a phone call with Xi last week, his first since trade talks commenced. The roughly 90-minute phone call “resulted in a very positive conclusion for both countries,” according to Trump.
China’s move to finalize a deal with the Trump administration comes after its exports to the U.S. plunged by 35% in May.