Xi says China supports Trump’s America vision
President Donald Trump described his face-to-face with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday as a roaring success, saying he would cut tariffs on China, while Beijing had agreed to allow the export of rare earth elements and start buying American soybeans.
The president told reporters aboard Air Force One that the US would lower tariffs implemented earlier this year as punishment on China for its selling of chemicals used to make fentanyl from 20 per cent to 10 per cent. That brings the total combined tariff rate on China down from 57 per cent to 47 per cent.
“I guess on the scale from 0 to 10, with ten being the best, I would say the meeting was a 12,” Trump said. “I think it was a 12.”
Trump said that he would go to China in April and Xi would come to the US “some time after that.” The president said they also discussed the export of more advanced computer chips to China, saying that Nvidia would be in talks with Chinese officials.
Trump said he could sign a trade deal with China “pretty soon.”
“We do not have too many major stumbling blocks,” Trump said.
Despite Trump’s optimism after a 100-minute meeting with Xi in South Korea, there continues to be the potential for major tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Both nations are seeking dominant places in manufacturing, developing emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, and shaping world affairs like Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Trump’s aggressive use of tariffs since returning to the White House for a second term, combined with China’s retaliatory limits on exports of rare earth elements, gave the meeting newfound urgency. There is a mutual recognition that neither side wants to risk blowing up the world economy in ways that could jeopardise their own country’s fortunes.
When the two were seated at the start of the meeting, Xi read prepared remarks that stressed a willingness to work together despite differences.
“Given our different national conditions, we do not always see eye to eye with each other,” he said through a translator. “It is normal for the two leading economies of the world to have frictions now and then.”
There was a slight difference in translation as China’s Xinhua News Agency reported Xi as telling Trump that having some differences is inevitable.
China did not provide immediate comment on the meeting or any outcomes.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said here on Thursday that China’s development and revitalisation goes hand in hand with US President Donald Trump’s vision to ‘Make America Great Again.’
He made the remarks during a meeting with Trump after landing in Busan for the 32nd APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Gyeongju, and a state visit to South Korea.
Xi said the two countries are fully able to help each other succeed and prosper together.
“China and the United States should be partners and friends. That is what history has taught us and what reality needs,” he said.
Xi also said he is ready to continue working with Trump to build a solid foundation for China-US relations and create a sound atmosphere for the development of both countries, Xinhua news agency reported.
Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met for a high-stakes summit that was watched closely for signs of a reprieve in the two countries’ escalating trade war marked by tit-for-tat tariffs.
The two leaders met for the first time since 2019 at Naraemaru, a reception hall inside an Air Force base in the southeastern city of Busan, shortly after Xi arrived in the country for a three-day state visit.
Trump arrived at the venue beforehand after departing the nearby city of Gyeongju, the venue of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gatherings this week, earlier in the day.
“We’re going to have a very successful meeting,” Trump said as the two leaders posed for photos ahead of their talks. “But he’s a very tough negotiator. That’s not good,” he quipped.
Trump added the two sides could sign a trade deal.
At stake at the Trump-Xi summit is a potential agreement that will see China hold off on tightened export controls on rare earths for a year in exchange for the United States canceling its planned imposition of an additional 100 per cent tariff on Chinese goods starting November 1.
A framework agreement on such a deal was reportedly reached between officials of the two sides over the weekend.
The world’s two largest economies have other trade issues to resolve as well. China stopped buying soybeans from the US this year, hurting American farmers who are a key Trump voter base. The US has separately used tariffs to pressure China to stop the flow of fentanyl.