Following the meeting held on October 30, Donald Trump announced that he would sign a trade agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping “very soon.” The meeting also covered the topic of reducing tariffs on Chinese imports. Trump told reporters that they agreed to lower the tariff on fentanyl imports from 20% to 10%. The level of tariffs imposed on Chinese products also dropped from 57% to 47%. It is noteworthy that the parties did not discuss Taiwan during the meeting.
Despite the fact that a trade deal was not signed after the meeting, a significant consensus on economic issues was reached during the meeting, including the resolution of disagreements related to rare earths. China announced that export control measures on critical minerals should be suspended for one year. In exchange for the tariff reductions, the Chinese side will purchase an “enormous amount” of American soybeans, which is a step forward for the US, as farmers were losing billions of dollars from crop sales to China due to trade disputes.
President Xi emphasized that “dialogue is better than confrontation.“ He called for deepening communication and named potential areas for cooperation:
- Combating illegal immigration and telecommunication fraud
- Money laundering
- Artificial intelligence (AI)
- Response to infectious diseases
The leaders also discussed the issue of Ukraine during the meeting. Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to cooperate to facilitate the end of the conflict.
The leaders agreed that they share a joint responsibility to address the complex problems facing the world.
