The three top US trade negotiators are working to reach a formal agreement with China in talks in London to finalize a related deal agreed to by President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping, White House Economic Adviser Kevin Hassett said on Monday.
“The main purpose of today’s meeting is to ensure they are serious but also literally to get a handshake,” Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said in an interview.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are scheduled to meet their Chinese counterparts in London on Monday in an effort to ease a trade dispute between the two superpowers that has now also involved export controls on goods critical to the global supply chain.
The issue of China’s export controls has been a major sticking point, Hassett said.
With China controlling the majority of global supply and magnets, restrictions on exports of those materials to the United States could hurt production for U.S. companies, including automakers that rely heavily on them, he said.
Asked about China's objections to U.S. semiconductor export restrictions, Hassett said: "Our expectation is that after the handshake, immediately after that, the U.S. export restrictions will start to ease, and will be lifted in large quantities. After that, we can move on to smaller issues."
