The United States warned China on Friday it must "immediately" comply with the terms of their trade-war truce, cautioning Beijing that it is failing to fully honour commitments on rare earth exports and agricultural purchases, the Financial Times reported. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer delivered the message during a Friday-morning call with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, who oversees trade negotiations with Washington, according to a Treasury readout cited by the FT. US officials contend that China is fulfilling only about two-thirds of its pledged rare earth exports, with volumes failing to rise despite direct talks in New York two months ago, the FT reported.
Beijing's account of the same call was markedly cooler. On the evening of November 6 Beijing time, He Lifeng held the video call with Bessent and Greer, and the two sides exchanged views on implementing the consensus reached by the two heads of state and the outcomes of earlier trade consultations, the Chinese readout said. China expressed solemn concern — in diplomatic language, lodged solemn representations — over recent US economic and trade restrictive measures against China. Where Washington's readout demanded speed, Beijing's stressed its own grievances; neither official readout quantified the rare-earth shortfall.
Source: Chinese readout of the Nov 6 He Lifeng-Bessent-Greer video call, Nov 7 2026
What the Busan deal promised
The Busan agreement stems from the October 2025 meeting between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, a de-escalation deal struck after months of tit-for-tat tariffs. It capped US tariffs on Chinese goods imposed during Trump's second term at about 20 percent; in return, China agreed to suspend the expansive rare-earth export controls it announced on October 9, 2025, to issue general licences for rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony and graphite for US end users and their suppliers worldwide, and to keep buying US farm goods, including about $17 billion a year of agricultural products through 2028. The one-year truce was later extended by two months, through January 10, 2027, after negotiating teams met in New York in September, shortly before Xi's state visit to Washington.
Source: White House Busan fact sheet and call readouts, compiled Nov 6-7 2026
On the call, Bessent emphasised "the importance of China fully and immediately implementing its commitments made in Busan" and raised concerns about recent Chinese actions, the Treasury readout said; on X, he added in his own words that he had "underscored that progress depends on concrete results." Greer stressed "the critical importance of China taking concrete actions to fully implement its past commitments, particularly as they relate to agricultural purchases, rare earths, and other critical minerals," his office said. The US side said it would closely assess China's implementation of the agreement. China has rejected US claims that it is not fulfilling its rare-earth commitments, according to the FT.
Source: US Treasury and USTR readouts of the Nov 6 call
What is solid
- Bessent and Greer held a video call with He Lifeng on November 6 and urged China to implement the Busan commitments 'fully and immediately' — US Treasury and USTR readouts, and the Chinese readout confirms the call took place.
- China used the same call to lodge solemn representations over recent US restrictive measures — Chinese readout.
- The Busan deal's core terms: a tariff cap near 20 percent, suspended Chinese rare-earth controls with general licences, and farm purchases including about $17 billion a year — White House fact sheet.
What is only claimed
- The 'two-thirds' rare-earth figure — it comes from US officials speaking to the Financial Times; the official readouts do not quantify any shortfall, and Beijing rejects the claim that it is falling short.
- The truce's real deadline — Washington says the arrangement now runs to January 10, 2027, while China's published MOFCOM suspension of the October 2025 controls still ends on November 10, 2026, days from now.
Rare earths and critical minerals sit inside electric vehicles, wind turbines, smartphones and advanced weapons on both sides of the Pacific. A truce that exists on paper but not in shipment volumes is the kind of gap that restarts tariff wars — and the next Trump-Xi meeting, expected on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen on November 18-19, is now eleven days away.
What happens next: the calendar is unforgiving. China's published rare-earth controls suspension expires on November 10 unless Beijing acts; Trump and Xi are due to meet in Shenzhen on November 18-19; and the extended truce itself runs out on January 10, 2027. Washington says it will closely assess implementation — which means shipment data, not statements, will decide whether Friday's warning becomes a renewed trade war or the pressure that finally makes Busan real.