Xi-Trump meeting: US to cut tariffs on China as countries reach agreement on rare earths
The US will cut import tariffs on China and the two countries have reached an agreement on the supply of rare earths, following a meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in South Korea. Trump said the world’s two biggest economies would sign a trade deal “pretty soon”.
“The agreement on rare earths is now finalised and applies to the whole world,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding that the agreement was for one year and would be renegotiated annually.
China holds a dominant position on extraction and refinement of the materials, used in the manufacture of electric cars, electronics and military weapons.
He also said he had agreed to halve tariffs on China related to fentanyl trafficking to 10 per cent and would visit Xi again in April. He described his meeting – the first in person since his return to office – as “a great success”.
Full details of the agreements between the two countries have yet to be released.
Consensus reached
China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency published a readout of Xi’s comments. He said both sides had reached a consensus to resolve “major trade issues” and that the countries had “promising prospects” for cooperation in areas such as illegal immigration, cyber fraud, money laundering and AI.
The two leaders also discussed the war in Ukraine, Trump said. “We talked about it for a long time and we are going to work together to see if we can achieve something,” he said.
"The agreement on rare earths is now finalised and applies to the whole world"
Trump also spoke to Canadian prime minister Mark Carney in Busan after a further escalation in trade tensions between the two countries.
“We had a very good conversation with him,” he told reporters. The US recently announced a further 10 per cent increase in tariffs on Canadian products and ended all bilateral trade negotiations after denouncing a Canadian anti-protectionist advertising campaign.
Trump’s Asia trip began on Sunday in Malaysia. In Japan, he met Emperor Naruhito and new prime minister Sanae Takaichi and signed deals on deepening rare earths cooperation and promoting a “new golden age” of US-Japan relations.
Yesterday in South Korea, he reached a deal with president Lee Jae Myung to reduce reciprocal tariffs from 25 to 15 per cent, in exchange for 350 billion dollars of investments in the US.
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping leave after their talks at the Gimhae Air Base in Busan, 30 October 2025 © PHOTO ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP
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