London, UK - The US and China began a second day of trade talks on Tuesday, seeking to shore up a shaky tariff truce in a bitter row deepened by export curbs.

China dispatched Vice Premier He Lifeng for the negotiations, while the US is represented by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

President Donald Trump said he was getting "good reports" from his team in London.

"We are doing well with China. China's not easy," he told reporters at the White House.

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Earlier, Kevin Hassett, an economic adviser to Trump, said he was expecting a breakthrough.

"I expect it to be a short meeting with a big, strong handshake, and we'll see," said Hassett, who serves Trump as director of the National Economic Council.

China's stranglehold on rare earth minerals, Hassett told CNBC, "was a very significant sticking point."

"Our expectation is that after the handshake, then immediately after the handshake, any export controls from the US will be eased, and the rare earths will be released in volume, and then we can go back to negotiating smaller matters," he added.

Other issues up for discussion are likely to include US restrictions on the sale of high-tech products to China.

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping also agreed on the meeting in a phone call on Thursday.

It is the first since a meeting in Switzerland in May, when tariffs on both sides were cut back considerably from the dizzying heights of Trump's trade war.