Busan, South Korea. 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, quoted by Reuters. After the meeting, already aboard Air Force One—the presidential plane—Trump announced a reduction in various tariffs that his administration had imposed in recent months on Chinese goods and said that Beijing would resume purchases of US soybeans.
Trump announced that he had agreed to reduce tariffs on China to 47 percent, 10 percentage points lower than the previous level, in exchange for Beijing resuming purchases of US soybeans, maintaining the flow of rare earth exports—minerals essential for green technologies and artificial intelligence—and cracking down on the illicit fentanyl trade, Reuters reported.
Before the meeting, Trump had threatened a major increase that would have raised tariffs by 100 percent, but told 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 Southeast Asian countries.
President Xi Jinping stated 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 said 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 occasional disagreements."
“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 held up after Washington imposed tariffs on several products—and other US goods. “We agree on many points,” he added, according to AFP.
Xi Jinping mentioned that a few days ago, the economic and trade teams of both countries reached a basic consensus 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 oil imports with Xi Jinping. “China has been buying oil from Russia for a long time. In fact, we did not discuss the issue,” the US president stated, according to Sputnik.
