BUSAN: US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had agreed to cut tariffs on Chinese goods to 47% in return for Beijing resuming US soybean purchases, maintaining rare earth exports, and intensifying action against the illicit fentanyl trade.
Speaking after face-to-face talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, their first meeting since 2019, Trump cast the announcement as the capstone of a whirlwind Asia tour that also featured touted trade gains with South Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asian
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“I thought it was an amazing meeting,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One shortly after he departed Busan, adding that tariffs imposed on Chinese imports would be cut to 47% from 57%.
Crunch talks between US President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping focused on their trade war wrapped up in under two hours Thursday with no immediate public comment from either leader on whether progress was made.
Trump headed straight to Air Force One in Busan, South Korea after the first face-to-face meeting in six years with Xi, waving and pumping his first as he boarded the plane. The jet took off minutes later.
Xi was seen boarding his limousine outside the closed-door meeting, which lasted around an hour and 40 minutes.
Ahead of the talks, Trump complimented a smiling Xi as a “very tough negotiator” as they shook hands.
Minutes before they met the US leader said he has ordered the Pentagon to start nuclear weapons testing on a level with China and Russia.
“We’ll have a great understanding,” Trump said, predicting a “fantastic relationship for a long period of time”.
Xi acknowledged before the meeting began in earnest that both sides did not always see eye to eye, but should strive to be “partners and friends”.
“China and the US can jointly shoulder our responsibility as major countries and work together to accomplish more great and concrete things for the good of our two countries and the whole world,” said Xi.
Sitting opposite each other each leader was flanked by senior officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury chief Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Xi’s team, which arrived from Beijing shortly before — the US side was already in South Korea — included Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and Vice Premier He Lifeng.
Rare earth export issue ‘settled’ says Trump
China has agreed to keep rare earth exports flowing to the world as part of a one-year agreement, Trump said shortly after meeting Xi.
The agreement, which Trump provided few details about except that it would probably be extended, would “settle” the issue, he said. China has yet to comment on what was agreed by the two leaders in talks, which ran for almost two hours.
“All of the rare earth has been settled,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “And that’s for the world, worldwide, you could say this was a worldwide situation, not just a US situation.”
“There is no roadblock at all on rare earth. That will hopefully disappear from our vocabulary for a little while.”
Rare earths, 17 elements which play tiny but vital roles in cars, planes and weapons, have emerged from obscurity to become China’s most potent source of leverage in its trade war with the United States.
Export controls introduced in April caused widespread shortages overseas, especially for magnets, forcing some automakers to pause production before exports rebounded following deals between Beijing and Washington and the European Union to free up the flow.
China expanded those controls again in October, taking the total number of elements restricted to 12 and adding much of the equipment used to process them.
The expanded controls are set to come into force in early November and it is unclear whether the agreement discussed by Trump covers the full suite of China’s rare earth export controls or just the October extension.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, also on the flight, said China would not be imposing its proposed rare earth controls after an understanding between the presidents. He did not comment on controls that are already in place.
— With additional input from AFP.
Tariffs cut to 47% after Trump holds ‘amazing’ meeting with Xi
