U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to let rare earth minerals and magnets flow to the United States, a move that could lower tensions between the world's biggest economies.

Beijing has approved more export licenses for the critical minerals and magnets in recent days, but supplies remain scarce and factories in the West are running out.

But there was a discrepancy in the two sides’ statements after the Trump-Xi call on one of the most contentious issues: rare earths, which are needed to make all kinds of advanced technologies and are produced almost entirely in China.