Officials from the U.S. and China met on Monday to begin a two-day session to discuss bettering trade ties and further deescalate the trade war. 

Details of the meeting have not yet emerged, though a source told FOX Business the discussions lasted nearly seven hours and prompted the delegations to order dinner in, as they continued negotiations. 

The meeting, which will continue tomorrow, comes just four days after President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone call for the first time since Trump re-entered office and then hit Beijing with a whopping 145% tariff. 

Though China initially responded with reciprocal 125% tariffs, both sides agreed to temporarily slash the trade dispute for 90 days last month, as negotiators worked to improve trade ties, temporarily putting in place a 30% tariff on Chinese goods, while Beijing implemented a 10% tariff on U.S. imports.

China’s President Xi Jinping shakes hands with President Donald Trump before a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, in June 2019. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP / Getty Images)

EXPERT REVEALS AMERICA’S ‘SECRET WEAPON’ AGAINST LONG-TERM COMPETITION WITH CHINA

White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett on Monday said rare-earth minerals will be at the heart of what the administration is hoping to get out of this round of talks, particularly after it accused China of purposefully slow-rolling exports of the critical minerals. 

China last month dropped its supply of rare-earth minerals by nearly 50% from the year prior in what some reporting suggested was a move to highlight its trump card when it comes to the valuable elements. 

“The purpose of the meeting today is to make sure that they’re serious, but to literally get handshakes,” Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, told CNBC on Monday. “Our expectation is that after the handshake… any export controls from the U.S. will be eased and the rare earths will be released in volume and then we can go back to negotiating smaller matters.”

Vietnam’s Communist Party General Secretary To Lam, right, and China’s President Xi Jinping leave after their meeting in Hanoi on April 14, 2025. (Nhac Nguyen/Pool/AFP via / Getty Images)

JOB GROWTH CONTINUED TO SLOW IN MAY AMID ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY

Hassett said Trump and Xi discussed the issue of rare-earth exports and magnets, of which China controls some 90%, and which are necessary for major industries like auto and tech. 

The director said the export slowdown could disrupt companies across the economy and noted Trump took the issue “very seriously.” 

Despite assurances from the president that customers would not feel the sticker shock at the checkout counter, rare-earth minerals were not the only item to take a hit.

Rare-earth mine in a town in Inner Mongolia in China. The mines north of town are one of the largest deposits of rare earth metals found in the world. (Bert van Dijk / Getty Images)

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According to a Reuters report, China’s exports to the U.S. dropped nearly 35% last month from the previous year, which is the sharpest drop since the coronavirus outbreak began to hit the U.S. in February 2020. 

Top administration officials from the U.S., including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, are expected to attend the meetings in London, signaling how significant restoring rare earth exports is to Washington. 

Fox Business’ Edward Lawrence contributed to this report.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon still isn’t a fan of Bitcoin but he’s not letting his personal feelings get in the way of business at the bank. 

“When I look at the Bitcoin universe, the leverage in the system, the misuse,” he said at the company’s annual investor day Monday in New York. Noting that bad actors can use it for sex trafficking and terrorism. 

“I am not a fan of it. We are going to allow you to buy it. And we’re not going to custody it. We’re going to do is put it on statements for clients. So, you know, I don’t think we should smoke, but I defend your right to smoke. I defend your right to buy Bitcoin, go at it”, he added. 

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon Speaks at Investor Day 5/19

Bitcoin, the largest crypto by market value, is just shy of its all-time high of $106,734.51 reached last year.

DIMON SOUNDS OFF ON HIGH MORTGAGE RATES, LAYS BLAME

Dimon has long been a critic of Bitcoin, including these remarks from 2021: 

“I personally think that Bitcoin is worthless,” Dimon said while speaking at a virtual event hosted by the Institute of International Finance. “But I don’t want to be a spokesman for that, I don’t care. It makes no difference to me.” Dimon has also likened the crypto to “fools gold.” 

Shares of JPMorgan Chase are up over 10% outperforming the S&P 500 which is flat for the year. 

In January 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission greenlighted the first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, prompting a slew of firms to launch their own, making the asset class more accessible for both institutional and retail investors. 

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iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin ETF and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF are currently the largest funds by assets under management, as tracked by ETF.com.