Scott Bessent Says US-China Trade Deal Could Be Signed Next Week, Following Trump-Xi Meeting: Report

• The meeting yielded multiple agreements across agricultural and energy products, as well as controlling the flow of fentanyl.
• In return, China has agreed to resume the flow of rare earths, critical minerals, and magnets, according to President Trump.
• Bessent also stated that President Trump has been focused on rare earths since he took office in January this year.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday reportedly stated that the trade deal between the U.S. and China could be signed as early as next week.

“The Kuala Lumpur agreement was finished in the middle of the night last night, so I expect we will exchange signatures possibly as soon as next week," said Bessent in an interview on Fox Business.

This comes after a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea. The meeting yielded multiple agreements across agricultural and energy products, as well as controlling the flow of fentanyl. In return, China has agreed to resume the flow of rare earths, critical minerals, and magnets, according to President Trump.

Focus On Rare Earths

Bessent stated that President Trump has been focused on rare earths since he took office in January this year. “He recognized that this is a strategic vulnerability for the U.S. The Chinese control about 70% of the mining, but more importantly, they control about 90% of the processing and refining,” he said in the interview.

The Treasury Secretary added that the Trump administration has been trying to stand up facilities to refine and process rare earths. He said that this was important for the U.S. to make sure its supply chain is free of chokepoints.

China To Resume Soybean Purchases

Following President Trump’s post on Truth Social, Bessent stated that China would resume its purchases of soybeans from the U.S., buying 12 million tons during the current harvest season that extends through January.

Subsequently, China has also committed to purchasing at least 25 million tons of soybeans every year for the next three years, Bessent said. While this would be a shade lower than the 27 million tons that China bought in 2024, Bessent stated in the interview that he expects China’s purchases to be higher than what the Xi Jinping administration has committed to.

Meanwhile, U.S. equities were mixed in Thursday’s opening trade. At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was down 0.41%, the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) fell 0.63%, while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) gained 0.35%. Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the ‘neutral’ territory.

Also See: Scott Bessent Says China To Buy 12 Million Tons Of Soybean This Season After Trump-Xi Meeting: Report

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