Trump Weekly: China to suspend some controls on rare earths

Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Trump with this weekly recap compiled by The Fly:

RARE EARTHS: President Donald Trump reached a trade and economic deal with President Xi Jinping of China. Chinese actions: China will suspend the global implementation of the expansive new export controls on rare earths and related measures that it announced on October 9, 2025. China will issue general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony, and graphite for the benefit of U.S. end users and their suppliers around the world. China will take significant measures to end the flow of fentanyl to the United States. China will suspend all of the retaliatory tariffs that it has announced since March 4, 2025. China will suspend or remove all of the retaliatory non-tariff countermeasures taken against the United States since March 4, 2025. American actions: The United States will lower the tariffs on Chinese imports imposed to curb fentanyl flows by removing 10 percentage points of the cumulative rate, effective November 10, 2025, and will maintain its suspension of heightened reciprocal tariffs on Chinese imports until November 10, 2026. The United States will further extend the expiration of certain Section 301 tariff exclusions, currently due to expire on November 29, 2025, until November 10, 2026. The Fly notes that companies involved in the development and mining of rare earth minerals include Nova Minerals (NVA), Ioneer (IONR), Lynas Rare Earths (LYSCF), MP Materials (MP), Energy Fuels (UUUU), NioCorp (NB) and VanEck Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF (REMX).

Later in the week, Reuters reported that China’s Ministry of Commerce has begun designing a new rare earth license system that would speed up shipments, but this will unlikely amount to the complete rollback of restrictions Washington had hoped for. China recently announced it would pause the restrictions imposed in October for one year following an agreement reached between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, but made no mention of the broader controls introduced in April. China is working on the new license system, but this does not mean the earlier export controls will be removed.

AI CHIPS: The White House has informed other federal agencies that it will not permit Nvidia (NVDA) to sell its latest scaled-down AI chips to China, The Information’s Qianer Liu reports, citing three people familiar with the matter. Nvidia has provided samples of the chip to several of its Chinese customers, according to the report, which adds that the chip, known as the B30A, can be utilized to train large language models when efficiently arranged in large clusters, a capability many Chinese companies require.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated that there are currently no active discussions or plans to sell the company’s Blackwell AI chips to China, amid ongoing U.S. export restrictions, Reuters’ Wen-Yee Lee reports. Despite speculation that talks between Presidents Trump and Xi could lead to a limited sales deal, no agreement has materialized, with Huang saying the decision ultimately depends on China’s policy changes regarding Nvidia products.

CRITICAL MINERALS LIST: The U.S. Department of the Interior has added copper, silver and metallurgical coal to its list of “critical minerals,” increasing the likelihood that these materials could be included in future tariff policies, Financial Times’ Leslie Hook reports. The three materials are among 10 elements added on Thursday to the list, which is updated every three years by the U.S. Geological Survey. The Trump administration has made it a top priority to secure the supply chains of critical minerals used in the U.S., and greatly expanded the definition of what constitutes a “critical” mineral, the author notes. Publicly traded companies in the space include Ero Copper (ERO), Pan American Silver (PAAS), BHP Group (BHP), Freeport-McMoRan (FCX), Hecla Mining (HL), Hudbay Minerals (HBM), Southern Copper (SCCO), and Teck Resources (TECK).

JAPAN, U.S. DEAL: Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has no intention to renegotiate the $550B investment deal entered with the U.S., Ju-min Park of Reuters reports. “I believe that even if the prime minister changes, promises made between governments should not be altered,” Takaichi told reporters.

INFORMATION REQUEST: After the payment company said it would not reach financial forecasts set by its former boss, Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee are now demanding for information related to Frank Bisignano, a Trump administration official who was formerly Chairman and CEO of Fiserv (FI), Ken Thomas of The Wall Street Journal reports. The lawmakers are seeking information from Fiserv related to Bisignano’s role in the financial forecasts, his initiatives in the company, and any internal reviews related to the guidance. Bisignano was selected by President Trump to lead the Social Security Administration in January and was more recently chosen to run the Internal Revenue Service.

TRUMPRX: Drug websites including GoodRx (GDRX) will not be partnering with TrumpRx, CBS News’ Jennifer Jacobs reports, citing sources. One official said the federal government website will send consumers to the pharmaceutical companies’ websites, where they can buy prescription medicines directly, and the companies will decide how to fulfill those orders, the author notes.

OBESITY DRUG PRICES: President Donald Trump on Thursday announced deals with Eli Lilly (LLY) and Novo Nordisk (NVO) to reduce the prices of some of their obesity drugs, including upcoming pills. The agreements will lower prices of GLP-1 drugs on Medicare and Medicaid and offer the treatments directly to consumers at a discount on a website the Trump administration is launching in January 2026 called TrumpRx.gov. Starting doses of upcoming obesity pills from Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk will be $145 per month for everyone getting them through Medicare, Medicaid or TrumpRx, and starting doses of existing injections like Novo’s Wegovy and Lilly’s Zepbound will be $350 per month on TrumpRX, but will “trend down” to $245 per month over a two-year period.

DIRECT FILE: The IRS is ending Direct File, a free government-run tax filing program, with the Trump administration promoting private alternatives, The Wall Street Journal’s Richard Rubin reports. The Treasury and IRS will now focus on Free File, a program offering free private tax software, according to the report. “We have better alternatives,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is also the acting IRS commissioner, told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. “It wasn’t used very much, and we think that the private sector can do a better job.” Publicly traded companies in the sector include Intuit (INTU) and H&R Block (HRB).