China is to ease export restrictions on automotive computer chips, which are crucial to the global car industry, the White House said, as part of a new trade deal between the United States and China.

The White House confirmed details of the deal in a new fact sheet after Xi Jinping and Donald Trump met in South Korea last week.

The deal also includes several agreements on US soybean exports, rare earth minerals and materials for making fentanyl.

Analysts believe that tensions in the US-China trade war have eased after the meeting between the two heads of state. After taking office as president, Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese goods, which China retaliated with tariffs, causing uncertainty in global trade.

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington told the BBC that “the details of the agreements that have been made have been shared with the relevant authorities.”

“We don’t want to be isolated from China,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant told CNN on Sunday (November 2). “But they have proven themselves to be a reliable partner.”

The same statements Trump made after the meeting were also included in a fact sheet released on Saturday (November 1). Trump described the meeting as “extraordinary.” Beijing also said they had reached a consensus on resolving “important trade issues.”

One of the major issues resolved in the agreement was the export of automotive computer chips. There were concerns that a disruption to Nexperia’s chip supply could pose a risk to the global supply chain.

Although Nexperia is owned by China, the company is headquartered in the Netherlands. About 70% of Nexperia’s chips made in Europe are sent to China, where they are processed and then exported to various countries.

The fact sheet says China will “take appropriate measures” to ensure that “critical legacy chips” produced by Xperia’s Chinese factories can flow freely back into the global market.

However, China said on Saturday (November 1) that it was considering exempting some companies from the ban.

Last month, several carmakers, including Volvo Cars and Volkswagen, warned that chip shortages could temporarily halt production at their factories.

Jaguar Land Rover also said the chip shortage was threatening its business.

In another major issue, China will suspend for a year the controls it imposed last month on the export of rare earth metals — essential for making cars, planes and weapons.

The White House said the US would also reduce tariffs on fentanyl imports. China has promised to take “significant measures” to address the fentanyl problem.

Fentanyl is a synthetic drug made from a variety of chemicals. Although it is approved for medical use in the United States, it is now considered the leading cause of opioid-related deaths in the country because it is so potent and highly addictive. Most of the chemicals used in its production come from China.

In terms of soybean exports, China has pledged to buy 12 million tons of soybeans from the United States in the last two months of 2025. After that, it will buy 25 million metric tons of soybeans per year for three consecutive years—the previous normal level.

Earlier this year, US farmers lost their largest export market when it stopped buying US soybeans. In response, Trump re-instated the farmer bailout program from his first presidency.