China will begin easing a ban on exports of automotive computer chips vital to vehicle production around the world as part of a trade deal struck between the United States and China, the White House said.
The White House confirmed details of the deal in a new advisory following a meeting between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump in South Korea this week.
The countries also reached agreements on US soybean exports, rare earth minerals and materials used in the production of the drug fentanyl.
The deal de-escalates the trade war between the world's two largest economies after Trump hit China with tariffs after taking office this year, leading to rounds of retaliatory tariffs and uncertainty for global business.
A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Liu Penyu, told the BBC that details of the agreements reached had been handed over to the “competent authorities”.
“The China-US economic and trade relationship is mutually beneficial,” he said.
“As President Xi Jinping has noted, business relations should continue to serve as the anchor and driving force of China-US relations, rather than a stumbling block or point of friction.”
Speaking on Sunday after details of the deal were made public, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNN: “We don't want to separate ourselves from China… (But) they have proven themselves to be an unreliable partner.”
Much of what was contained in Saturday's newsletter was announced by Trump and other officials after the meeting. between two leaders.
Trump called the talks in South Korea “amazing” and Beijing said they had reached consensus on resolving “major trade issues.”
One of the issues addressed in the deal was the export of automotive computer chips. There were concerns that the chip shortage at Nexperia, which has manufacturing facilities in China, could create problems in the global supply chain.
Nexperia is a Chinese company based in the Netherlands. About 70% of Nexperia chips produced in Europe are sent to China for processing and re-export to other countries.
The advisory said China “will take appropriate measures to ensure trade resumption from Nexperia's facilities in China, allowing production of critical legacy chips to flow to the rest of the world.”
It followed Beijing's announcement on Saturday that it was considering tax exemptions. some companies are banned.
Last month, companies such as Volvo Cars and Volkswagen warned that chip shortages could lead to temporary shutdowns at their factories, while Jaguar Land Rover said the chip shortage posed a threat to its business.
In other key issues, Beijing will now suspend for a year controls on exports of rare earth minerals vital to the production of cars, planes and weapons that it imposed last month.
The White House also said it would reduce tariffs imposed to curb fentanyl imports into the US, with China agreeing to take “significant measures” to address the problem.
Fentanyl is a synthetic drug made from a combination of chemicals, and although it is approved for medical use in the US, this powerful and highly addictive substance has since become the main drug responsible for opioid overdose deaths in the US.
The chemicals used in its production, some of which have legal uses, mainly supplied from China.
For soybeans, China has committed to buying 12 million tons of U.S. soybeans in the last two months of 2025 and 25 million tons in each of the next three years, roughly the same as where they were previously.
China's decision to stop buying U.S. soybeans earlier this year has left U.S. farmers without access to their largest export market.
In response, Trump resumed the program to help farmers which acted during his first term of office.
