US President Donald Trump announced that he had reached an understanding to scale back tariffs on China in return for Beijing’s efforts to curb the illegal fentanyl trade, resume its purchases of US soybeans, and maintain the supply of rare earth minerals.
The declaration came after direct discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the South Korean city of Busan — their first face-to-face encounter since 2019 — concluding a fast-paced Asia tour where Mr Trump also highlighted trade progress with South Korea and Japan, reports RTE.
“It was an amazing meeting,” President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One shortly after departing South Korea, rating the talks a “12 out of 10,” reports RTE.
He stated that tariffs on Chinese goods would be reduced from 57% to 47%, with duties on fentanyl precursor trade cut in half to 10%.
President Xi will work “very hard to stop the flow” of fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opioid and the leading cause of overdose deaths in the United States, Mr Trump said.
China also agreed to suspend newly announced export restrictions on rare earth minerals — elements vital to industries such as automotive, aviation, and defense — which have been a key source of leverage for Beijing in its trade standoff with Washington, reports RTE.
The Chinese commerce ministry confirmed the suspension would remain in place for one year.
It further noted that both sides had reached agreement on increasing agricultural trade and were committed to finding a solution regarding TikTok, an app President Trump seeks to bring under American ownership, reports RTE.
His engagement with President Xi followed a separate meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, during which the allies said they had completed nearly all aspects of a tariff deal that had been months in negotiation.
Global financial markets reacted cautiously to the US-China accord, reports RTE.
US Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer expressed skepticism on social media, claiming President Trump’s statements about the summit were untrustworthy. “Trump folded on China,” he wrote, reports RTE.
Of Washington’s major trade partners, only Brazil and India continue to face elevated tariffs.
Before the talks, stock markets from New York to Tokyo had surged to record highs amid optimism for a breakthrough in the prolonged US-China trade conflict that has shaken supply chains and global business sentiment, reports RTE.
Mr Trump had consistently emphasized his confidence in striking a deal with President Xi after US negotiators confirmed on Sunday that a framework had been achieved to prevent 100% tariffs on Chinese goods and delay Beijing’s export restrictions on rare earths.
The cordial meeting between the two leaders, held at a South Korean air base on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, lasted roughly ninety minutes, reports RTE.
Mr Xi told President Trump through a translator that occasional tensions between their nations were natural as they sat facing one another with their respective teams.
“China’s development and rejuvenation are not incompatible with President Trump’s goal of ‘Making America Great Again,'” he added, reports RTE.
They also reached an understanding to suspend tit-for-tat port fees meant to limit each other’s dominance in shipbuilding, maritime transport, and logistics.
China will commence steps to import American energy, President Trump stated on Truth Social, suggesting a potential deal in Alaska tied to his administration’s $44 billion (€38bn) liquefied natural gas export initiative, reports RTE.
The US president said he planned to visit China in April, followed by a visit from President Xi to the United States.
Chinese state-run outlets hailed the meeting as a success for Mr Xi’s diplomatic strategy, reports RTE.
“We have the confidence and capability to navigate all kinds of risks and challenges,” the official Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying, reports RTE.
The agreement effectively resets relations to where they stood before President Trump’s “Liberation Day” campaign in April, which had reignited retaliatory trade measures.
However, analysts cautioned that this might only represent a temporary truce in a trade war with deeper unresolved issues, reports RTE.
Mr Trump also clarified that the subject of Nvidia’s advanced Blackwell chip had not come up in his talks with Mr Xi, dealing another setback to the company’s aspirations in China’s $50 billion (€43bn) AI market.
Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, who arrived in South Korea soon after Mr Trump’s departure, expressed confidence that the leaders’ dialogue was productive and would protect both nations’ interests, reports RTE.
The sensitive topic of Taiwan — a democratic island claimed by China and a key American partner in technology — was likewise absent from the discussion, according to the US president.
“It never came up. That was not discussed actually,” he told reporters, reports RTE.
Taiwan’s chief trade negotiator confirmed meeting a senior US trade representative on the sidelines of the APEC summit but offered no details about the conversation.
Just minutes before his meeting with President Xi, Mr Trump directed the US military to resume nuclear weapons testing after a 33-year pause, citing the expanding arsenals of Russia and China, reports RTE.
China’s foreign ministry expressed hope that Washington would maintain its moratorium on nuclear tests.
Mr Trump’s aspirations for another encounter with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the inter-Korean border did not materialize during this trip, reports RTE.
He mentioned being too “busy” to meet Mr Kim but said he might return at a later date.
“I had a great relationship with Kim Jong Un,” he added, reports RTE.
The US president said he expects to meet the North Korean leader again “in the not too distant future” and hopes to ease tensions between the two Koreas.
He praised the alliance with South Korea as “stronger than ever” and confirmed he had authorized Seoul to construct a nuclear-powered submarine, reports RTE.
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