China will “always honour its commitments” when it comes to negotiating trade disagreements with the US, according to a spokesperson for the Chinese government.
But when pushed by Sky News, he refrained from confirming what those commitments are.
The reluctance is at odds with President Trump, who declared on his Truth Social account on Wednesday that “our deal with China is done”, while also claiming that China has agreed to supply rare earth metals to the US “upfront”, and to a 55% tariff rate on its goods.
The comments follow high-stakes talks between delegations from the two countries in London aimed at stabilising the relationship amid an escalating trade and supply chain war.
China’s refusal to confirm these details has raised speculation that, contrary to what the US side is claiming, there may still be significant disagreements and some details yet to be worked out.
The continued silence comes after two days of negotiations between delegations from the US and China in the UK.
While both sides confirmed that they had agreed a “framework” to implement the “consensus” reached at previous talks in Geneva last month, as well as during a phone call between President Xi and President Trump on 5 June, the delegations were supposed to be taking the agreement to their respective leaders for sign-off.
When asked by Sky News if any of the details in Trump’s Truth Social post reflected what China understood to be in the deal, Lin Jian, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said “the two sides achieved new progress in addressing the concerns on economic and trade issues”.
“We always honour our commitments. Since we’ve reached common understandings, the two sides need to follow them.”
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When pushed by Sky News on whether China agrees with Trump’s Truth Social assessment that the US-China relationship is “excellent”, Lin declined to agree, saying simply: “Our position on relations with the United States has been consistent and clear.”
Such lukewarm language is not uncommon in China but there will likely be significant displeasure at the way Trump is unilaterally publishing details that may not yet have been officially signed off.
It is in stark contrast to China’s communication landscape which is highly scripted and controlled, and if it was designed to force China into an agreement it could well backfire.
Indeed, if everything in Trump’s Truth Social post is true it would represent quite a coup for the US, and that feels a little unlikely given the valuable bargaining chips China has, particularly over rare earth metals.
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This will likely have been a crunch point in negotiations. China has the vast majority of the world’s rare earth metals which are vital in the production of everything from cars to weaponry, and recent export controls imposed in response to Trump’s tariffs have brought some production lines to the brink of standstill.
In response, the Trump administration imposed extra export controls on high-tech chips, chip development technology and parts needed to make jet engines, as well as moving to revoke student visas for Chinese nationals.
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President Trump indicated in his Truth Social post that the measures to revoke visas will be rowed back.
When pushed by Sky News, Lin refrained from commenting on whether Trump’s communications on this matter have undermined the relationship more broadly, but the stakes remain enormously high, with the unfolding supply chain war set to do significant damage to the economies of both nations.
