Trump, China’s Xi reach agreement on tariffs, rare earths in wide-ranging meeting
by Jared Gans - 10/30/25 6:51 AM ET
President Trump said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on a wide range of subjects during their much-anticipated meeting Thursday, including the key issues of tariffs and access to rare earth materials.
It was their first face-to-face meeting in six years, going back to Trump’s first term. Their relationship has been rocky at times as they’ve been critical of one another, only to later cool tensions as leaders of the world’s two biggest superpowers.
The conference in South Korea came at the end of Trump’s Asia tour, in which he also traveled to Malaysia and Japan.
Here’s what to know from the meeting:
Trump hails ‘truly great’ Xi meeting
The president said in a post on Truth Social following the meeting that the “enormous respect” the two countries have for each other will only be enhanced based on what happened during his meeting.
He said Xi authorized China to purchase “massive amounts of Soybeans, Sorghum, and other Farm products” that will support U.S. farmers. China had been boycotting these products in protest of the tariffs Trump had placed on the country.
Trump said Beijing agreed to a one-year pause on new restrictions it enacted earlier this month on the export of rare earth materials and critical minerals, which has been the source of significant tension between Trump and China.
The pause is another win for Trump on this issue as he has prioritized it since China put the restrictions in place. He signed several deals earlier in the trip with Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand and Japan to gain U.S. access to these materials in response to China’s earlier action.
Trump said on Truth Social that Xi also agreed for China to help stop the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.
The president said he would accordingly cut in half the 20 percent tariffs he had imposed to pressure China to take more action to address fentanyl trafficking. That will bring overall tariffs on Chinese goods down from 57 percent to about 47 percent.
Trump said China would also start “the process of purchasing American Energy,” and a “large scale transaction” may happen on the purchase of oil and gas from Alaska. He said the countries’ energy teams would be meeting to try to reach a deal.
The meeting with Xi concluded after less than two hours, with the two leaders having a cordial exchange before Xi got into a car and Trump made his way to Air Force One to return to the U.S.
The leaders seem likely to meet again, as a Chinese readout of the meeting stated that Trump would travel to China next year and Trump invited Xi to visit the U.S.
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https://thehill.com/newsletters/morning-report/5580655-trump-xi-meeting-key-outcomes/
