The US leader said the talks yielded an extendable one-year deal on China’s supply of crucial rare earths, materials that are essential for sophisticated electronic components across a range of industries.
“All the rare earths has been settled, and that’s for the world,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “There is no roadblock at all on rare earth. That will hopefully disappear from our vocabulary for a little while.”
Beijing had announced in early October additional controls on the export of rare earths, a sector where China is hugely dominant.
“On fentanyl, we agreed that he was going to work very hard to stop the flow … I put a 20 per cent tariff on China because of the fentanyl coming in … and based on his statements today I am going to reduce that by 10 per cent,” Trump said.
The meeting, their first since 2019, marked the finale of Trump’s whirlwind Asia trip on which he also touted trade breakthroughs with South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian nations.
“I guess on the scale from 0 to 10, with 10 being the best, I would say the meeting was a 12,” Trump said of his talks with Xi. “I think it was a 12.”
Neither leader made any public comments immediately after the talks, which lasted around an hour and 40 minutes.
Trump headed straight to Air Force One, waving and pumping his fist as he boarded the plane. The jet took off minutes later.
Xi was seen getting into his limousine outside the closed-door meeting.
The Chinese president said the two sides had reached a consensus on economic and trade issues, reported state media, but offered no details on the specific agreements.
“Both teams should refine and finalise follow-up work as soon as possible, maintain and implement the consensus and provide tangible results to set minds at ease about the economies of China, the US and the world,” said Xi, according to a Xinhua readout.
Source: CNA
