Trump announces China will restart rare earth mineral shipments to US after productive call

"Yes, he did," Trump replied. "We're very far advanced on the China deal."

The news comes about a month and a half after China effectively halted exports of seven precious minerals, vital for assembling cars, robotics and defense systems, to the U.S. in a direct strike on America's manufacturing and defense supply chain.

Overseas deliveries of magnets stopped April 4, when new licensing rules took effect, according to The New York Times. Companies are only allowed to export rare earth materials if they obtain special export licenses, which take 45 days to receive.

The halt also threatened to undercut Trump's tariff strategy because China produces about 60% of the world's critical mineral supply and processes even more, up to 90%.

Trump and Xi had a lengthy call Thursday amid economic and national security friction regarding trade between the U.S. and China.

Trump said the conversation focused mostly on trade.

Fox News' Diana Stancy, Bonny Chu, Danielle Wallace, Morgan Phillips and Reuters contributed to this report.