President Donald Trump met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday. This was their first time meeting in person since June 2019. The meeting took place after months of growing tensions between the two countries over trade, with Trump imposing significant tariffs on Chinese products and warning of further action.
According to Politico, While flying back to Washington on Air Force One, Trump told reporters the meeting went very well. He said it was “a 12” when asked to rate it on a scale of one to 10. He added that they made many important choices during their discussion.
Trump called it “an amazing meeting” and said both countries agreed on several big things. He said China promised to buy soybeans from American farmers, try to stop fentanyl from coming into the U.S., and wait before limiting rare earth exports. Trump also said he would lower the taxes on Chinese products right away, bringing them down from 57 percent to 47 percent.
So much for the tough talk on China
These deals show Trump backing away from his hard line against China from just a few weeks ago. He had warned he would put 100 percent taxes on Chinese goods starting November 1 if China did not stop its rare earth limits. Those limits, announced this month, would have forced foreign companies to get permission from Beijing to export their products if they used even tiny amounts of Chinese rare earths.
American farmers have had a tough time during this trade fight. China bought over 50 percent less American farm products in the first seven months of 2025. Soybean farmers got hurt the worst, with sales to China dropping from $18 billion in 2022 to only $2.4 billion from January to July this year.
Trump said he could sign a real agreement “pretty soon” and that not many issues were left to solve. He also said he plans to go to China in April, and Xi will come to the United States after that. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Malaysia last weekend, where they said things were moving forward.
When talking about rare earth materials, which go into everything from iPhones to military gear, Trump sounded confident. “There is no road block at all on rare earth,” he said. “Hopefully, that will disappear from our vocabulary for a little while.”
This news should make financial markets around the world feel better, since they were worried about what the growing trade fight and tax threats between the world’s two biggest economies would mean for everyone.
Published: Oct 30, 2025 12:30 pm