Explainer | US-China trade agreement: what did both sides commit to do?
A White House fact sheet released over the weekend has provided fresh details on the ‘historic’ agreement made last week
With the United States and China striking what the White House has called a “historic” agreement, trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies – after months of simmering – appear to be entering a phase of de-escalation.
Here, the Post explores what the fact sheet has revealed about the commitments made by the US and Chinese sides and how analysts have reacted to the agreement.
What has China agreed to?
According to the White House fact sheet, Beijing will “issue general licences valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony and graphite for the benefit of US end users and their suppliers around the world”.
The move amounted to a “de facto removal of controls China imposed in April 2025 and October 2022”, the document stated. The issuing of general licences was not mentioned in the statement from China’s commerce ministry.