Scott Bessent Meets China's He Lifeng as Three Rare-Earth Clocks Converge

Highlights

• Treasury Secretary Bessent and USTR Greer meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York ahead of the September 24 Trump-Xi summit with rare earths on the agenda
• Three converging deadlines—September 24 diplomacy, November 10 tariff truce expiry, and January 1 2027 DFARS NdFeB supply-chain restrictions—are reshaping U.S.-China mineral negotiations
• Washington remains dissatisfied with Chinese rare-earth flows, with yttrium exports demonstrating how shipments can become country-specific leverage
• The DFARS 2027 restrictions cover the entire NdFeB supply chain from mining through finished magnets for defense procurement
• REEx frames the standoff as Great Powers Era 2.0 ecosystem competition where AI, chips, magnets and defense production share the same strategic chessboard