Entertainment
US, China talks sketch out rare earths, tariff pause for Trump and Xi to consider
- Chinese official says “preliminary consensus” reached.
- US official expects China to delay rare earths curbs for a year.
- Donald Trump optimistic about deal when he meets Xi Jinping.
Top Chinese and US economic officials on Sunday hashed out the framework of a trade deal for US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to decide on later this week that would pause steeper American tariffs and Chinese rare earths export controls, US officials said.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur had eliminated the threat of Trump’s 100% tariffs on Chinese imports starting November 1.
Bessent also said that he expects China to delay implementation of its rare earth minerals and magnets licencing regime by a year while the policy is reconsidered.
Chinese officials were more circumspect about the talks and offered no details about the outcome of the meetings.
Trump and Xi are due to meet on Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, to sign off on the terms. While the White House has officially announced the highly anticipated Trump-Xi talks, China has yet to confirm that the two leaders will meet.
“I think we have a very successful framework for the leaders to discuss on Thursday,” Bessent told reporters after he and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and top trade negotiator Li Chenggang for their fifth round of in-person discussions since May.
Bessent said he anticipates that a tariff truce with China will be extended beyond its November 10 expiration date, and that China will revive substantial purchases of US soybeans after buying none in September while favouring soybeans from Brazil and Argentina.
US soybean farmers “will feel very good about what’s going on both for this season and the coming seasons for several years” once the deal’s terms are announced, Bessent told the ABC programme “This Week.”
Greer told the “Fox News Sunday” programme that both sides agreed to pause some punitive actions and found “a path forward where we can have more access to rare earths from China, we can try to balance out our trade deficit with sales from the United States.”
Trump expects a deal, Chinese suggest caution
China’s Li Chenggang said the two sides reached a “preliminary consensus” and will next go through their respective internal approval processes.
“The US position has been tough, whereas China has been firm in defending its own interests and rights,” Li said through an interpreter. “We have experienced very intense consultations and engaged in constructive exchanges in exploring solutions and arrangements to address these concerns.”
Trump arrived in Malaysia on Sunday for a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, his first stop in a five-day Asia tour that is expected to culminate in Thursday’s face-to-face with Xi in South Korea.
After the weekend talks, Trump struck a positive tone, saying: “I think we’re going to have a deal with China”.
Trump had threatened new 100% tariffs on Chinese goods and other trade curbs starting on November 1, in retaliation for China’s expanded export controls on rare earth magnets and minerals.
China controls more than 90% of the world’s supply for the materials, which are essential for high-tech manufacturing from electric vehicles to semiconductors and missiles. The export controls and Trump’s threatened retaliation would disrupt a delicate six-month truce under which China and the US reduced tariffs that had quickly escalated to triple-digit rates on each side.
The US and Chinese officials said that, in addition to rare earths, they discussed trade expansion, the US fentanyl crisis, US port entrance fees, and the transfer of TikTok to US ownership control.
Bessent told NBC’s “Meet the Press” programme that the two sides have to iron out details of the TikTok deal, allowing Trump and Xi to “consummate the transaction” in South Korea.
Talking points with Xi include soybeans, Taiwan
On the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit, Trump hinted at possible meetings with Xi in China and the United States.
“We’ve agreed to meet. We’re going to meet them later in China, and we’re going to meet in the US, in either Washington or at Mar-a-Lago,” Trump said.
Among Trump’s talking points with Xi are Chinese purchases of US soybeans, concerns around Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, and the release of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai.
Trump also said he will seek China’s help in US dealings with Moscow, as Russia’s war in Ukraine grinds on.
Tensions between the world’s two largest economies flared in the past few weeks as a delicate trade truce, reached after a first round of trade talks in Geneva in May and extended in August, failed to prevent the United States and China from hitting each other with more sanctions, export curbs, and threats of stronger retaliatory measures.
China’s expanded controls of rare earths exports have caused a global shortage. That has prompted the United States to consider a block on software-powered exports to China, from laptops to jet engines, according to a Reuters report.
Ben Stiller has publicly demanded the White House remove a clip from his 2008 film Tropic Thunder from a government-produced video promoting the Trump administration’s military strikes on Iran, calling it “propaganda” and declaring that “war is not a movie.”
Stiller posted his objection on X after a White House video began circulating on social media, featuring clips from a string of major Hollywood films and television shows, including Gladiator, Braveheart, Iron Man, Breaking Bad, Deadpool, and Top Gun, intercut with real-life drone strike footage, and concluding with a voiceover declaring “flawless victory.”
“Hey White House, please remove the Tropic Thunder clip,” Stiller wrote. “We never gave you permission and have no interest in being a part of your propaganda machine. War is not a movie.”
The video sparked immediate and widespread backlash online.
Journalist Séamus Malekafzali wrote, “I don’t think a more embarrassing and humiliating thing has ever been produced before by any government in human history. I somehow might be underselling it.”
ABC Saturday Extra host Nick Bryant asked, “Are there any grown ups in the White House? Is there any understanding of the seriousness and horror of war? This is frat house not White House.”
Podcaster Vince Mancini drew a sharp historical comparison, questioning why the administration would bother with a supercut of old films as justification for military action.
Machine Gun Kelly had to set the record straight with paparazzi in Paris after photographers mistakenly called out Megan Fox’s name as he arrived at the Stella McCartney fashion show with his teenage daughter Casie.
Video posted by Paris Videostars captured the moment on Wednesday as the father and daughter made their way to the show during Paris Fashion Week.
Photographers shouting Fox’s name were quickly corrected by the rapper, who shot back: “That’s my daughter, not Megan.”
The mix-up was an awkward one, MGK, 35, shares Casie, 16, with ex Emma Cannon, not Fox.
MGK, whose real name is Colson Baker, was dressed in a tank top with “hardcore” printed across the chest, a green jacket, jeans, and black sunglasses.
Casie wore a heather grey minidress, pointed-toe heels, sunglasses, and a sparkly mini purse. The pair posed for photos before heading into the show.
Afterwards, MGK posted a series of snaps from their Paris trip on Instagram, captioning the carousel with characteristic self-deprecating humour: “got mogged by my own flesh and blood.”
The rapper and Fox have had a complicated recent history.
They reportedly ended their on-again, off-again relationship in 2024 while Fox was pregnant with their daughter, Saga Blade.
The pair first met in 2020 on the set of Midnight in the Switchgrass, got engaged in 2022, and called off the engagement in March 2024.
A source told that the exes “haven’t been together in a real way for a long time now and whatever they had romantically is done.”
MGK himself dismissed the ongoing speculation with a cryptic Instagram Story in January, writing: “Mainstream gossip media is so [corn emoji].”
Prince William and Kate could soon be heading across the Atlantic to help mend an “all-time low” in UK-US relations.
Diplomats in Washington are reportedly counting on a high-profile royal visit to reset ties after months of tension, which began following the King’s hosting of former President Trump at Windsor last year.
Sources according to Gb News suggest the White House is particularly eager to welcome the couple, with July 4 celebrations under consideration as a potential highlight.
This trip would mark her first official overseas engagement for Kate since her recent illness.
As Patron of the, the Prince of Wales might take in a World Cup match during the visit, while Catherine’s participation will depend on family and schedule considerations.
Royal insiders note that the positive rapport the former president reportedly has with the family could play a key role in smoothing diplomatic tensions.
One source said that his fondness for the monarchy “trumps” other political disagreements.
A full-scale state visit would likely include the King and Queen alongside William and Catherine, satisfying calls from Washington for an “unprecedented” display of goodwill.
Palace sources stress that while the optics of a state visit are carefully managed, the ultimate purpose is to represent the nation and maintain historic ties. “This is the job,” a former aide said.
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