Trump announces China will restart rare earth mineral shipments to US after productive call

President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One Friday that Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed to start sending rare earth minerals to the U.S. after halting the shipments in April.

Trump held a gaggle on the presidential jet Friday evening, and one reporter asked him just before landing if Xi had agreed to restart the flow of rare earth minerals and magnets to the U.S.

“Yes, he did,” Trump replied. “We’re very far advanced on the China deal.”

The news comes about a month and a half after China effectively halted exports of seven precious minerals, vital for assembling cars, robotics and defense systems, to the U.S. in a direct strike on America’s manufacturing and defense supply chain.

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President Donald Trump said Xi Jinping agreed to restart the flow of rare earth minerals and magnets to the U.S. during a gaggle on Air Force One Friday. (Getty)

Overseas deliveries of magnets stopped April 4, when new licensing rules took effect, according to The New York Times. Companies are only allowed to export rare earth materials if they obtain special export licenses, which take 45 days to receive.

The halt also threatened to undercut Trump’s tariff strategy because China produces about 60% of the world’s critical mineral supply and processes even more, up to 90%.

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Workers transport soil containing rare earth elements for export at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China. (Reuters)

China’s mineral halt to the U.S. Defense Department came after Beijing had already imposed sanctions on multiple U.S. military contractors late last year, according to Reuters. Chinese entities were prohibited from engaging or cooperating with them in response to an arms sale to Taiwan, the outlet reported.

Trump and Xi had a lengthy call Thursday amid economic and national security friction regarding trade between the U.S. and China.

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President Xi Jinping of China in Bangkok, Thailand. (Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)

“I just concluded a very good phone call with President Xi, of China, discussing some of the intricacies of our recently made, and agreed to, Trade Deal,” Trump said Thursday in a Truth Social post. “The call lasted approximately one and a half hours and resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries.”

Trump said the conversation focused mostly on trade.

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The call came nearly a week after Trump condemned China for violating an initial trade agreement that the U.S. and China hashed out in May and a day after Trump said Xi was “extremely hard to make a deal with” in a Truth Social post. 

Fox News’ Diana Stancy, Bonny Chu, Danielle Wallace, Morgan Phillips and Reuters contributed to this report.