'US hopes to finalise rare earths deal with China this month'

WASHINGTON:

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that Washington hopes to finalize a deal with China for securing supplies of rare earths by the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November.

Under the tentative deal  reached in late October at a meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in South Korea ,

China is hugely dominant in the mining and processing of rare earths, which are essential for sophisticated electronic components across a range of industries including auto, electronics and defense.

"We haven't even finished the agreement, which we hope to have done by Thanksgiving," which falls on November 27, Bessent said on Fox News's "Sunday Morning Futures" program.

"And I am confident that — post our meeting in Korea between the two leaders, President Trump, President Xi — that China will honor their agreements."

But, Bessent warned, if Beijing balks, the United States has "lots of levers" to retaliate.