Daines: US-China Gaps Persist After Xi-Trump Summit — SkimNews
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- Steve Daines said serious differences between the US and China persist after the Xi-Trump summit, specifically over critical minerals, trade, and Taiwan, calling continued engagement necessary.
- China controls about 70% of global rare earth mining and nearly 90% of processing, with US Ambassador David Perdue accusing Beijing on September 27 of "weaponising" its dominant position in critical minerals.
- The Trump-Xi summit produced a two-month extension of the October 2025 Busan trade truce, under which China committed to increase critical metals supplies to the US.
- The White House paused a $14 billion Taiwan arms package before Trump's May visit to Beijing despite congressional approval; an earlier $11 billion arms sale announced in December drew a strong reaction from Beijing.
- Xi Jinping urged Trump during their September 24 meeting to explicitly oppose Taiwan independence, according to the South China Morning Post.
- Trump and Xi agreed to meet again at the APEC gathering in Shenzhen next month, followed by the G20 summit in Miami in December.
Why it matters: Daines' candid assessment signals that even the most-watched US-China summit in years hasn't moved the needle on the structural disputes — China's near-monopoly on rare earth processing (90%), a multi-billion-dollar paused Taiwan arms pipeline, and the fundamental Taiwan sovereignty question. Continued dialogue delays confrontation but does not narrow the gap, meaning businesses and defense planners should expect these flashpoints to remain live through 2026.
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