Trump Met Chinese President Xi Jinping For The First Time In Six Years And Said It Was "Amazing”
Trump called his meeting with Xi in Busan on Thursday, Oct. 30, “amazing” and ranked it “12 out of 10.”
US president Donald Trump met with Chinese president Xi Jinping in South Korea, their first face-to-face meeting in six years, to discuss trade and possibly ending the trade war between the countries.
Trump began imposing tariffs on Chinese goods in February, increasing them to 20% in March, then to57% and threatening to make them as high as 145%.
In response, the Chinese government vowed to “fight to the end” and retaliated by imposing tariffs on certain US products and agriculture, including soybeans, and halting imports of soybeans from the US.
This caused significant harm to American farmers as more than half of the US’ exports of soybeans traditionally goes to China, and China is the second largest source of imports for the US, as well as the primary manufacturer worldwide for cellphones, toys, computers and other products, according to the New York Times.
Trump called his meeting with Xi in Busan on Thursday, Oct. 30, “amazing” and ranked it “12 out of 10.”
During the talks, the two leaders agreed on a temporary trade ceasefire.
Trump said tariffs on Chinese imports would be cut to 47% from 57%, done through slashing fentanyl-related tariffs from 20% to 10%, adding that Xi will work "very hard to stop the flow" of fentanyl.
Xi, meanwhile, agreed to postpone enforcing export restrictions on rare earth metals, which are critical for manufacturing high-tech and have vital roles in cars, planes and weapons, according to Reuters.
He also agreed to resume buying large quantities of American soybeans.
The two agreed to enhance cooperation in economic, trade, energy and other fields while maintaining regular high-level interactions.
Xi also praised Trump on helping reach a ceasefire in Gaza and overseeing the signing of the ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia, with the two leaders agreeing to cooperate more to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Trump said he plans to visit China early next year, with a reciprocal visit by Xi to the US to follow.
However, they have not yet reached a formal long-term trade agreement.
Isha Jain
Cherry Mohamed
