US cuts China tariffs as part of trade truce

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had agreed with President Xi Jinping to trim tariffs on China in exchange for Beijing cracking down on the illicit fentanyl trade, resuming US soybean purchases and keeping rare earths exports flowing.

- Reuters

Trump's face-to-face talks with Xi in the South Korean city of Busan, their first since 2019, marked the finale of a whirlwind Asia trip on which he also touted trade breakthroughs with South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian nations. The deal, according to Beijing, also included a US pledge to delay for a year a new measure—strongly opposed by China—to bar thousands of Chinese firms from receiving US technology if they are part owned by a sanctioned company.

“It was an amazing meeting,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One shortly after he left South Korea, ranking the talks a "12 out of 10".

Trump said tariffs on Chinese imports would be cut to 47% from 57%, by halving to 10% the rate of tariffs related to trade in fentanyl precursor drugs.

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.

China agreed to pause export controls unveiled this month on rare earths, elements with vital roles in cars, planes and weapons that have become Beijing's most potent source of leverage in its trade war with the United States.

The pause would last for a year, China's commerce ministry said.

China agreed to buy 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans through January, and to purchase 25 million tons annually for the next three years, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business Channel's "Mornings with Maria" program. He said China had approved an agreement to bring short video app TikTok under U.S.-controlled ownership, and he expected it to move forward in coming months.