Reuters. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday (October 30) he had agreed with President Xi Jinping to trim tariffs on China in exchange for Beijing cracking down on the illicit fentanyl trade, resuming U.S. soybean purchases and keeping rare earths exports flowing.
Trump's face-to-face talks with Xi in the South Korean city of Busan, their first since 2019, marked the finale of the U.S. president's whirlwind Asia trip on which he also touted trade breakthroughs with South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian nations.
"I thought it was an amazing meeting," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One shortly after he departed Busan.
Trump said tariffs imposed on Chinese imports would be cut to 47% from 57% by halving the rate of tariffs related to trade in fentanyl precursor drugs to 10% from 20%. Xi will work "very hard to stop the flow" of fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid that is the leading cause of American overdose deaths, Trump said.
The cordial meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, lasted nearly two hours.
