The Chinese government will lift export restrictions on critical minerals, cease exports of chemicals to North America required to produce fentanyl and resume the flow of key auto semiconductors, the White House said in a fact sheet Saturday.
The document is the most detailed public summary of the accord reached between U.S. and Chinese negotiators and signed off by President Donald Trump and China’s leader Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the two countries could sign the agreement, which deescalates tensions between the two countries and essentially implements a one-year truce, as soon as this coming week.
The fact sheet — which describes the concessions from China as “a massive victory that safeguards U.S. economic strength and national security” — is the latest installment in the White House’s media victory lap touting the results of Trump’s meeting with Xi. That publicity blitz frames the results of their encounter as a decisive win for Trump’s aggressive tariff policy despite the fact that it resulted in compromises and a fragile truce rather than a long-term trade agreement.
Still, China hawks remain worried that there is nothing stopping Beijing from pulling out of the agreement if they find it no longer suits its purpose.
The White House and China’s Commerce Ministry had both stated that Beijing would lift its export restrictions on rare earths — elements essential to U.S. civilian manufacturing and defense industries — as well as take steps to address China’s role in fueling the U.S. opioid overdose epidemic. The fact sheet provides some specifics about those agreements.
“China will issue general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony, and graphite for the benefit of U.S. end users and their suppliers around the world,” the statement said.
That clarification is good news for U.S. civilian and defense industry manufacturers who rely on those elements for their manufacturing processes. Germanium is used in fiber optics, semiconductors and solar panels, while gallium is used to produce chipsets used in computers, mobile phones, as well as 5G base stations.
Both countries had previously said that Beijing would roll back new and sweeping export controls on any goods containing Chinese rare earths. But the general licenses mean “the de facto removal” of previous export controls China put in place in April 2025 and October 2022, the White House said.
The White House also said that Beijing will take long-anticipated steps to reduce the flow of precursor chemicals that Chinese exporters ship to Mexico, where cartels process it into fentanyl-like synthetic opioids.
“China will take significant measures to end the flow of fentanyl to the United States,” the fact sheet said. “China will stop the shipment of certain designated chemicals to North America and strictly control exports of certain other chemicals to all destinations in the world.”
The statement didn’t specify which chemicals Beijing will ban from export to North America or what measures the Chinese government will take to restrict their shipment to other markets.
The Chinese embassy didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The Chinese government also agreed to reverse recent moves by Chinese-owned semiconductor company Wingtech Technology to block exports of key components to Nexperia, its Dutch subsidiary. That triggered a chip supply crisis that is now hitting global automakers and prompted the Dutch government to intervene and take control of the firm in September.
Beijing will “take appropriate measures to ensure the resumption of trade from Nexperia’s facilities in China, allowing production of critical legacy chips to flow to the rest of the world,” the statement said.
Beijing, however, has issued more ambiguous comments about Nexperia suggesting that the two sides may not be fully aligned on resolving the chip supply issue.
“I wish to emphasize that the Dutch government’s improper interference in corporate affairs has disrupted global production and supply chains,” a Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson said in a statement Saturday.



Follow