Media: Rare Earth Issues Prompt US Actions Against China

Trump said to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on the same day: "They (China) have violated a large part of the agreement we reached. We hope that we can solve this issue."

Earlier, Trump posted on his social media platform "Truth Social": "China has completely violated the agreement it reached with the United States, which may not be surprising to some people. This is what happens when you try to be nice!"

Although Trump did not specify his grievances in detail, U.S. Trade Representative Greer accused the Chinese government of failing to honor the content of the Geneva agreement and complained about China's lack of acceleration in exporting critical minerals needed for advanced electronics earlier on Friday.

Greer stated: "We haven't seen these critical minerals flowing as scheduled. China continues, you know, to slow down and stifle things like critical minerals and rare earth magnets."

Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said that since the Geneva talks, the two countries "have maintained communication on trade issues of mutual concern." Liu Pengyu continued: "The Chinese side has repeatedly expressed concerns to the U.S. side regarding the U.S. abuse of export control measures in the semiconductor sector and other related practices. The Chinese side once again urges the U.S. side to immediately correct its wrong actions, stop discriminatory restrictions against China, and jointly uphold the consensus reached at the high-level Geneva talks."

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced earlier this month that stricter measures will be taken against foreign artificial intelligence chips, including "issuing guidelines stating that using Huawei Ascend chips anywhere in the world violates U.S. export controls." The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that China viewed this move as provocative and had formally complained to U.S. officials.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Miller told CNN on Friday that the U.S. "has various options to hold China accountable," and future measures will resemble those taken against student visas.

Miller said: "I won't go into detail now about all the measures the president is willing to take. All I can say is that some measures have already been taken, and others are currently being implemented." Miller then told reporters that China needs to "act quickly" to avoid further actions by the U.S.

Miller said: "China has failed to fulfill its obligations to the U.S. that it promised and committed to, so the U.S. can take various actions." CNN cited three officials from the Trump administration reporting that the U.S. has taken a series of punitive measures against China in recent days because U.S. officials believe China has failed to fulfill its commitments made earlier in trade negotiations. These officials expressed frustration over China's failure to fulfill its promises aimed at easing trade tensions between the U.S. and China, as both sides are seeking to reach a comprehensive agreement by mid-August.

The report noted that after the Geneva talks concluded, U.S. officials expected China to ease its export restrictions on rare earth minerals, which are key components in products ranging from iPhones and electric vehicles to F-35 fighter jets and missile systems.

However, three U.S. officials said that these restrictive measures have yet to be lifted, triggering strong dissatisfaction within the Trump administration and prompting the U.S. to impose a series of punitive measures on China recently.

Washington's decision to limit sales of key technologies to China and reduce the number of Chinese students studying in the U.S. reflects the importance of the trade war to the overall China policy of the Trump administration. A senior official in the Trump administration described this relationship as a "unified government strategy." Last week's actions will have significant impacts on Chinese technology companies and international students.

Officials said that before the negotiations, there was increasing concern within the Trump administration over China cutting off supplies of rare earth minerals, sparking extensive efforts behind the scenes to find potential workarounds. This effort, involving participation from multiple agencies and White House officials, did not cease after the Geneva trade talks but remains a focal point.

However, some believe that the current pressure will ease due to the agreements shown in the joint statement of the Sino-U.S. Geneva economic and trade talks. However, when this did not happen, the U.S. began to consider how to exert pressure on China.

U.S. officials said they were not worried that this round of retaliatory actions would disrupt future U.S.-China trade negotiations. Instead, officials hope to clearly indicate that failure to effectively participate in ongoing trade negotiations will result in consequences for China.

A person close to the White House told CNN: "This obviously escalates the situation. But if you look at what Trump does when he believes he is about to reach an agreement but hasn't yet, he tries to raise the rhetoric. They believe that escalating rhetoric and action will accelerate the conclusion of the agreement."

Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1833636991720515/

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