Hours after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea Oct. 30, President Donald Trump announced the countries had reached an agreement to de-escalate trade tensions between the two nations.
Under the deal, the U.S. will scale back tariffs, and China will delay new export controls and resume soybean purchases.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One after the summit, Trump said the U.S. will halve fentanyl-related tariffs on Beijing, from 20% to 10%. He added that the reduction brings total import taxes on Chinese goods down from 57% to 47%.
“Overall, I guess on the scale of zero to 10 with ten being the best, I would say the meeting was a 12,” Trump said.
Trump added that Xi had agreed to “work very hard” to stop the flow of fentanyl into the U.S., calling the issue “a very complex subject because it’s used for lots of different reasons, including anesthetics. But he’s going to work very hard on it.”
In a TruthSocial post early Oct. 30, Trump said the two leaders also reached agreements on rare earth minerals and agricultural purchases.
“I was extremely honored by the fact that President Xi authorized China to begin the purchase of massive amounts of Soybeans, Sorghum, and other farm products,” Trump wrote. “In fact, as I said once before during my first Administration, Farmers should immediately go out and buy more land and larger tractors. I would like to thank President Xi for this!”
Shortly after the meeting, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told FOX Business Network that China would buy 12 million metric tons of soybeans through the end of the year and at least 25 million tons annually for the next three years — welcome news for U.S. farmers hit hard by past trade tensions.
Trump added in the post that China has also “agreed to continue the flow of Rare Earth, Critical Minerals, Magnets, etc., openly and freely.”
According to The Hill, as of 2024, China accounted for roughly 70% of the global rare earth mining. Rare earths are essential for cars, semiconductors, and electronics. Earlier this month, Trump signed a rare-earth partnership with Australia shortly after Beijing imposed new export restrictions, CatholicVote reported.
Trump made headlines just hours before the meeting by announcing on TruthSocial that he had directed the Pentagon to begin testing U.S. nuclear weapons immediately.
“The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country,” Trump wrote. “This was accomplished, including a complete update and renovation of existing weapons, during my First Term in office. Because of the tremendous destructive power, I HATED to do it, but had no choice! Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years.”
While on Air Force One, Trump was asked about the post, and he responded that other nations were all “nuclear testing” and that the U.S. has “more nuclear weapons than anybody” but doesn’t currently test them.
He indicated he wanted that to change.
“With others doing testing, I think it’s appropriate for us to do testing,” Trump remarked.
The summit with Xi capped Trump’s three-nation Asia trip to Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea. Earlier in the week, he announced a trade agreement with South Korea that includes a $350 billion investment pledge in U.S. manufacturing in exchange for reduced tariffs.
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