Busan. The trade dispute between the United States and China has been"resolved." That's how President Donald Trump summarized his meeting this Thursday, local time, with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the first between the two largest economies in six years, AFP reported."I thought it was an incredible meeting," he added, as quoted by Reuters.
After the meeting, already aboard Air Force One – the presidential plane – Trump announced a reduction in various tariffs that his government had imposed in recent months on Chinese products and assured that Beijing would resume purchases of American soybeans.
Trump announced that he had agreed to reduce tariffs on Chinese goods to 47 percent, 10 percentage points lower than the previous level, in exchange for Beijing resuming purchases of U.S. soybeans, maintaining exports of rare earth elements—essential minerals for green technologies and artificial intelligence—and cracking down on the illicit fentanyl trade, Reuters reported. The targeted tariffs on fentanyl will be reduced from 20 to 10 percent, the news agency added.
Before the meeting, Trump had threatened a major increase that would have raised tariffs by 100 percent, but explained to reporters that it was not necessary to carry out that plan, AP recalled.
The US president's remarks, after meeting face-to-face with the Chinese leader for 40 minutes in the South Korean city of Busan (their first meeting since 2019), marked the end of Trump's whirlwind tour of Asia, during which he also highlighted trade progress with South Korea, Japan and other Southeast Asian countries.
President Xi Jinping stressed that China's development and revitalization go hand in hand with his US counterpart Donald Trump's vision of"making America great again," according to Xinhua.
He stated that it was natural for the two countries"not to always agree" and added that it was "normal for the world's two largest economies to have frictions from time to time."
“China and the United States should be partners and friends. That is what history has taught us and what reality demands,” he said, according to the Chinese news agency. Xi also stated that he is willing to continue working with Trump to build a solid foundation for China-U.S. relations and create a favorable environment for the development of both countries.
Trump asserted that China will buy “enormous quantities” of soybeans—which had been halted after Washington imposed tariffs on Beijing—and other US products. “We agree on many points,” he added, according to AFP.
Xi Jinping reported that the economic and trade teams of both countries reached a basic consensus a few days ago on addressing their respective major concerns and made encouraging progress, the Japan Times reported. “I am willing to continue working with you to build a solid foundation for China-U.S. relations,” Xi added, as quoted by the Japanese newspaper.
Trump confirmed that he did not discuss Russian crude oil imports with Xi Jinping. “China has been buying oil from Russia for a long time. In fact, we didn't discuss the issue,” the US president stated, according to Sputnik.
The AFP news agency reported that Trump stated that the United States and China would"work together" on the war in Ukraine.
Trade agreement with Seoul
South Korea and the United States announced a trade agreement on Wednesday, negotiated over months, following a meeting between President Trump and his South Korean counterpart, Lee Jae-myung.
“We reached an agreement. We did many different things. It was a great session,” Trump stated.
The trade agreement contemplates the reduction of tariffs on imports from the Asian country in exchange for Seoul investing $350 billion in the world's leading power, of which $200 billion must be in cash and $150 billion for cooperation in the shipbuilding sector, explained Kim Yong-beom, senior advisor to the South Korean president.
