Beijing confirms progress in trade talks with Washington.

Live from the UK, this is the Marketplace Morning Report from the BBC World Service.

Hello, I'm Nick Hureishi in Fort Leanne.

China has confirmed it's reached an agreement with the United States over rare earth minerals

in a bid to end a trade war between the world's biggest economies.

A White House official says it lays the groundwork for expediting rare earth shipments from China to the US.

The BBC's Jake Kwan says it's taken a lot of work to get to this point.

America had accused China of stopping the export of these rare ingredient for any modern machinery,

whether it's sensors, magnets,

and it even has implication into national security because a lot of these components are used on

weapons. And China accused America of stopping the sale of semiconductor chips. Two weeks ago,

the two sides met again in London to iron out that detail, and at the time we heard that they

have agreed to a framework deal. And it seems that yesterday they finalized that framework deal,

which really bodes well to those countries finishing their trade war. At the same time,

this appears to be a middle step, and it will be a while to reach the final line.

Jake Kwanne. Meanwhile in Europe, work continues

on a trade agreement with the US before July 9th. That is when the 90-day pause runs out. European

leaders have been gathering in Brussels for a summit where they must decide on a common

negotiating position towards the Trump administration. European Commission President Ursula von

DeLeyn confirmed the US had sent over its terms for a deal. She warned the block was considering

all options. So our message today is clear. We are ready for a deal. At the same time,

we are preparing for the possibility that no satisfactory agreement is reached.

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