US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the deal should result in restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnets being resolved.
Both sides said they would now take the plan to their presidents – Donald Trump and Xi Jinping – for approval.
Chinese exports of rare earth minerals, which are crucial for modern technology, were high on the agenda of the meetings.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said China had failed to rollback restrictions on exports of rare earth magnets.
Trump said on Friday that Xi had agreed to restart trade in rare earth materials.
In principle, the US and China claim to have reached an agreement on a framework for reducing trade tensions between the two largest economies in the world.
The agreement should lead to the removal of restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnets, according to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
According to both parties, they will now present the plan for approval to their respective presidents, Xi Jinping and Donald Trump.
Following two days of talks in London between senior officials from Beijing and Washington, the announcement was made.
The focus of the meetings was on Chinese exports of rare earth minerals, which are essential to contemporary technology.
In regards to trade tariffs, Washington and Beijing reached a temporary truce last month, but both nations have since accused the other of breaking the agreement.
China has reportedly been slow to export rare earth metals and magnets, which are necessary for the production of everything from smartphones to electric cars, according to the US.
In the meantime, Washington has limited China’s access to American products like semiconductors and other artificial intelligence (AI)-related technologies.
Lutnick informed reporters that “a framework to implement the Geneva consensus” had been reached.
He went on, “We will try to implement it after the presidents give their approval.”.
Following what the US President called a “very good talk” over the phone last week, Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping began a new round of negotiations.
“The two sides have, in principle, reached a framework for implementing the consensus reached by the two heads of state during the June 5th phone call and the Geneva meeting,” announced Li Chenggang, China’s vice minister of commerce.
China was hit the hardest when Trump announced broad tariffs on imports from several nations earlier this year. In response, Beijing raised its own tariffs on US imports, which led to tit-for-tat increases that reached a peak of 145 percent.
A temporary ceasefire that Trump referred to as a “total reset” was reached in May after negotiations in Switzerland.
Beijing cut US import duties to 10 percent and pledged to remove restrictions on vital mineral exports, while the US reduced its tariffs on Chinese goods to 30 percent. It provided 90 days for both parties to attempt to come to a trade agreement.
However, China and the US have since claimed that non-tariff pledges have been broken.
China has not removed restrictions on rare earth magnet exports, according to US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Beijing claimed that US violations of the agreement included halting sales of software for designing computer chips to Chinese businesses, issuing warnings against the use of chips manufactured by the Chinese tech giant Huawei, and revoked Chinese student visas.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced Saturday that it had granted some applications for export licenses for rare earths ahead of this week’s negotiations, but it did not specify which nations were involved.
Trump announced on Friday that Xi had consented to resume rare earth trade.
