Meeting with Xi ‘very good’, says Trump

Pair agree to extend tariff truce in S Korea

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Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to extend a tariff truce, roll back export controls and reduce other trade barriers in a landmark summit yesterday, potentially stabilising relations between the world’s biggest economies after months of turmoil.

In the first sitdown between leaders since Mr Trump's return to the White House, the pair agreed China would pause sweeping controls on rare-earth magnets in exchange for what Beijing said was a US agreement to roll back an expansion of restrictions on Chinese companies. The US will also halve fentanyl-related tariffs on Chinese goods, while Beijing resumes purchases of what Mr Trump called “massive amounts” of soybeans, sorghum and other farm products.

The US is also extending a pause on some of its so-called reciprocal tariffs on China “for an additional year,’ the Commerce Ministry in Beijing said in a statement, adding that China “will properly resolve issues related to TikTok with the US side.” Mr Trump said he would visit China next April, with Mr Xi planning to head to the US afterward.

“I guess, on the scale from zero to 10, with 10 being the best, I would say the meeting was at a 12,’ Mr Trump told reporters on Air Force One, which he boarded immediately after the meeting with Mr Xi in Busan, South Korea. “You know, just the whole relationship is very, very important. I think it was very good.”