The President of the United States stated that he had a meeting with very positive results with the Chinese leader
Through a post on Truth Social, the American President added that China will begin a process to acquire American energy, including possible large-scale purchases of oil and gas from the state of Alaska.
Several of the agreement's clauses had already been outlined during previous negotiations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where both parties agreed on a general framework before the summit.
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced that he had reached an agreement with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, after their first face-to-face meeting since his return to the White House.
"We have an agreement," Trump declared to journalists aboard Air Force One, following a nearly two-hour meeting at an air base in South Korea. The President described the meeting as "a 12 out of 10" and stated that the agreement will be renegotiated every year, but "it will probably last a long time."
The most notable agreement consists of China suspending its new restrictions on the export of minerals and rare earths for one year, which are key inputs for the global production of batteries, magnets, and semiconductors.
This decision avoids the imposition of an additional 100% tariff that Trump had threatened to apply to Chinese products starting November 1 in response to those restrictions. "There is no obstacle regarding rare earths," he assured. "It is a one-year agreement that will be easily renewed."
Additionally, Xi committed to intensifying the fight against fentanyl exports, a synthetic drug produced mainly in China that has caused nearly 330,000 deaths in the United States over the past five years.
In exchange, Trump will reduce the tariff on Chinese products related to fentanyl from 20% to 10%, which will bring the average tariff rate on Chinese imports from 57.6% to 47.6%, below the 50% applied to Brazil and India.
The Chinese leader also agreed to resume purchases of large volumes of American soybeans, which had been interrupted this year in retaliation for Washington's tariffs. "It was an unbelievable meeting, many important decisions were made," Trump stated, also revealing that he plans to visit China in April.
Trump did not clarify whether the situation of the company TikTok was addressed during the meeting or if any agreement was reached regarding its control in the United States. He also confirmed that the issue of Taiwan was not discussed, although there was an extensive exchange about the war in Ukraine.
"We talked a lot about Ukraine and about the possibility of working together to end the war," he noted, although he specified that Russian oil exports to China were not discussed.
The meeting between both leaders took place in a cordial atmosphere, after a year of economic tensions and reciprocal tariff measures. Xi greeted Trump by stating that "China's development goes hand in hand with his vision of making America great again," and expressed his conviction that "China and the United States can prosper together as partners and friends."
The issue of fentanyl was one of the central topics. Trump recalled that he had promised to demand from Xi a firm commitment to stop the flow of this drug to the United States, a topic that had already been discussed during his first term without lasting results. Xi reiterated the commitment to implement severe measures, including capital punishment for traffickers, as he had promised in the past.
Trump described the outcome of the meeting as "an extraordinary achievement" and assured that bilateral relations are entering "a new phase of understanding and cooperation."
