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Donald Trump said Xi Jinping had committed to postpone export controls on rare earths as part of a broad one-year trade agreement that the US and Chinese leaders reached at a summit in South Korea.
“It was an amazing meeting,” the US president told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew back to Washington on Thursday. “On a scale of 0-10 with 10 being the best, the meeting was a 12.”
Trump said they had agreed on an “outstanding group of decisions” and that the US and China would sign a trade deal “pretty soon”.
“We have not too many stumbling blocks,” Trump said. “Every year, we will review the deal, but I think the deal will go . . . long beyond a year.”
Trump said the two sides had settled what he called the rare earth issue, a reference to the sweeping export controls China announced this month. China dominates the rare earth supply chain and the controls on the minerals critical to global manufacturers had sparked a dramatic escalation in tensions.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer who was also on Air Force One said China had made clear it would allow the flow of rare earths.
Trump said he had agreed to cut the fentanyl-related tariff on China from 20 to 10 per cent because Xi had pledged “to work very hard” to stem the export of the chemical ingredients for the deadly opioid. “I think you will see some real action taken,” Trump said.
The US president said they also discussed semiconductors and that Nvidia would talk to China about exporting chips. But he said the discussions did not cover the most advanced chips.
Trump said he would visit China in April and that Xi would make a reciprocal visit to the US. The Chinese side has yet to confirm a deal or its terms.
Trump and Xi held roughly 90 minutes of talks in Busan, South Korea. Both leaders were in South Korea to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in the nearby south-eastern city of Gyeongju.
In opening remarks as they started their summit, Trump hailed Xi was a “great leader of a great country” before adding that they would “have a fantastic relationship for a long period of time”.
Sitting across the table from Trump, Xi said it was a “great pleasure” to meet the US president for the sixth time.
The Chinese leader said it was natural that the US and China would “not always see eye to eye” and added that it was “normal for the two leading economies of the world to have frictions now and then”.
“In the face of winds, waves and challenges, you and I . . . should stay the right course and ensure the steady sailing forward of the giant ship of China-US relations,” Xi said.
“I always believe that China’s development goes hand in hand with your vision to Make America Great Again.”
The US and Chinese leader had met to discuss approving a framework deal on trade that their teams reached last weekend.
Dennis Wilder, a former head of China analysis at the CIA, said the “tactical agreements” set the stage for US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent and his Chinese counterpart He Lifeng to convert the trade framework into a comprehensive deal that could be sealed when Trump visits China, if not before.
“However, if there is little progress or backsliding from today’s meeting, both sides have the ability to threaten to return to damaging export restrictions and tariffs that were lifted,” Wilder said.
The summit comes six months after Trump slapped 145 per cent tariffs on goods from China and Xi retaliated with a 125 per cent levy on those from the US, creating a situation that US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent described as a de facto trade embargo.
