Trump cuts China tariffs to 47% after 'amazing' meeting with Xi

President Xi says reached 'consensus with Trump on trade: Calls for steady sailing of China-US relations: Says Beijing, Washington must be 'partners and friends': Trump tells Xi will have 'fantastic relationship for a long time'

Published: 08:43 AM, 30 Oct, 2025
World
Trump cuts China tariffs to 47% after 'amazing' meeting with Xi
Caption: US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping shake hands in Busan.–AFP

US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that tariffs on Chinese goods will be reduced from 57% to 47%, following what he described as an “amazing" meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea.

Speaking after the talks, Trump said “a lot of decisions were made" and that both sides reached key understandings on trade and cooperation. He said the two leaders agreed that President Xi would “work very hard to stop fentanyl" and that more conclusions on “very important things" would be shared soon.

Trump also announced an extendable one-year agreement with China on the supply of critical rare earth minerals. “All the rare earths have been settled, and that’s for the world," he told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding that the arrangement would be valid for one year and renegotiated annually. The deal marks a key step in ensuring stable global access to rare earths — materials vital for electronics, electric vehicles, and defense manufacturing.

Outlining other trade measures, Trump said China had agreed to purchase American farm products, including soybeans, and to intensify efforts to curb the illicit fentanyl trade. He added that both sides discussed semiconductor cooperation, with China expected to hold talks with Nvidia.

Confirming that the US and China would sign a one-year trade deal, Trump said it could be extended later. He also announced that tariffs on fentanyl-linked imports from China would be reduced to 10% from 20%, bringing the overall tariff rate down to 47%. “We have not spoken about Blackwell chips," Trump clarified, adding that he plans to visit China in April, with a reciprocal visit by Chinese officials to follow.

Speaking about the Taiwan issue, US President Donald Trump stated that it was not discussed in his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Taiwan “never came up. That was not discussed, actually," Trump said on Air Force One after meeting Xi in South Korea.

Xi says reached 'consensus' with Trump on trade

President Xi Jinping said China has reached a consensus with the United States on economic and trade issues, state media reported, after meeting Thursday with US leader Donald Trump.

Trump and Xi met for the first time since 2019 in Busan, South Korea, engaging in closely-watched talks, as their two countries remain locked in a blistering trade war.

The tussle between the world's top two economies, which encompasses everything from rare earths to soybeans and port fees, has rocked markets and gummed up supply chains for months.

On Thursday, Xi told Trump that the two countries "should have positive interactions on the regional and international stage", Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.

Xi said that teams from both sides had "exchanged in-depth views on important economic and trade issues and reached a consensus on resolving them", according to the Xinhua readout which offered no details on specific agreements reached.

"Both teams should refine and finalise follow-up work as soon as possible, maintain and implement the consensus and provide tangible results to set minds at ease about the economies of China, the United States and the world," he added.

President Trump called the meeting with China's Xi Jinping a "great success", after the world's top two economies agreed a deal to trim fentanyl-related tariffs and keep supplies of critical rare earths flowing.

There was no immediate comment from the Chinese government after what was the leaders' first face-to-face meeting since 2019 and a key point in their trade battle that has rattled markets and snarled supply chains.

"I thought it was an amazing meeting," Trump said after the talks in Busan, South Korea, praising Xi as a "tremendous leader of a very powerful country" and saying he would visit China in April.

Trump added that the deal included China immediately buying "tremendous amounts of soybeans and other farm products", a key issue for Trump's support in farm country and a point of leverage for Beijing.

The US leader said the talks yielded an extendable one-year deal on China's supply of crucial rare earths, materials that are essential for sophisticated electronic components across a range of industries.

"All the rare earths has been settled, and that's for the world," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Beijing had announced in early October additional controls on the export of rare earths, a sector where China is hugely dominant.

"On fentanyl we agreed that he was going to work very hard to stop the flow... I put a 20-percent tariff on China because of the fentanyl coming in... and based on his statements today I am going to reduce that by 10 percent," Trump said.

- Nuclear testing -
Neither leader made any public comments immediately after the talks, which lasted around an hour and 40 minutes.

Trump headed straight to Air Force One, waving and pumping his fist as he boarded the plane. The jet took off minutes later.

Xi was seen getting into his limousine outside the closed-door meeting.

Xi acknowledged before the meeting began in earnest that both sides did not always see eye to eye, but should strive to be "partners and friends".

"China and the US can jointly shoulder our responsibility as major countries and work together to accomplish more great and concrete things for the good of our two countries and the whole world," said Xi.

Sitting opposite each other, each leader was flanked by senior officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury chief Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Xi's team, which arrived from Beijing shortly before -- the US side was already in South Korea -- included Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and Vice Premier He Lifeng.

- Crowning achievement -
The meeting took place on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit of 21 countries in Gyeongju including the leaders of Japan, Australia and Canada.

It is the final stop on an Asia tour that saw Trump, 79, showered with praise and gifts, including a replica of an ancient Korean golden crown.

In Japan, new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said she would nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize and gave him a putter and a gold-plated golf ball.

However, Trump's hopes of a re-run of his 2019 meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Demilitarized Zone frontier appear to have dashed.

Trump said though that they would meet in the "not too distant future" and that he would like to "straighten out" tensions between North and South Korea.

On Thursday, he hailed the military alliance with South Korea as "stronger than ever" and said he had given the green-light for Seoul to build a nuclear powered submarine.

One surprise in the talks could have been if Xi had brought up Taiwan, with speculation that Beijing might press Trump to water down US backing for the self-ruled island.

Since 1979, Washington has recognised Beijing over Taipei as the sole legitimate Chinese power, even though the United States remains Taiwan's most powerful ally and its main arms supplier.

But Trump said that Taiwan "never came up. That was not discussed actually."

The US president added though that he and Xi agreed to "work together" on the issue of Ukraine.

Earlier, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China and the United States should ensure the steady sailing forward of the giant ship of China-US relations, and both countries should work together to accomplish more great and concrete things for the good of their two peoples and the whole world.

During a meeting with US President Donald Trump on South Korean city of Bosan, President Xi said that since Trump's re-election, they have spoken on the phone three times, exchanged several letters and stayed in close contact.

Under their joint guidance, China-U.S. relations have remained stable on the whole, Xi said.

A few days ago, in the latest round of consultation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the economic and trade teams of the two countries reached basic consensus on addressing respective major concerns, which provided the necessary conditions for the meeting today, he said.

Given different national conditions, the two sides do not always see eye to eye with each other, and it is normal for the two leading economies of the world to have frictions now and then, Xi said.

"You and I are at the helm of China-US relations," said Xi. "In the face of winds, waves and challenges, we should stay the right course, navigate through the complex landscape, and ensure the steady sailing forward of the giant ship of China-US relations."

President Xi Jinping told Donald Trump that while the two countries did not always see eye to eye, they should strive to be "partners and friends".

"China and the US can jointly shoulder our responsibility as major countries and work together to accomplish more great and concrete things for the good of our two countries and the whole world," Xi said as talks kicked off in Busan.

Xi noted that President Trump is very enthusiastic about settling various regional hotspot issues and China has also been promoting peace talks to resolve various hotspot issues.

As the world today is confronted with many tough problems, China and the United States can jointly shoulder their responsibility as major countries, Xi said.

In response, President Trump informed his Chinese counterpart that they will have 'fantastic relationship for a long time'.–Agencies

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