Trump cuts fentanyl tariffs on China to 10%, says U.S. reached rare earths deal with Beijing

U.S. President Donald Trump said he has reached a 1-year agreement with China on rare earths and critical minerals, and cut fentanyl tariffs on Beijing by half, as his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded in South Korea on Thursday.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he left South Korea that the meeting with Xi was “amazing” and that “a lot of decisions were made.”

“Rare earth issue has been settled,” the president said, adding that it is a 1-year agreement that will be negotiated every year. Tariffs on Chinese exports will also be lowered to 47% from 57%, the president said.

Trump said he will be going to China in April, followed by a trip by Xi to the U.S. without specifying a timeline.

That was the first time that the two leaders met in six years and the meeting lasted one hour and 40 minutes.

Before the meeting, the two leaders struck a conciliatory tone, with Trump calling Xi “an old friend” with whom he has a “very good relationship,” and Xi stressing that China’s economic growth ambitions would not undermine Trump’s vision to “Make America Great Again.”

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Tensions between the world’s two economic superpowers have been on a boil this year. The latest escalation came this month, with Beijing  export controls and Washington threatening to ban software-powered exports to China. 

The U.S. had in recent days shared details about deals they hoped to achieve with China – from restricting the flow of fentanyl to the U.S. to TikTok’s divestiture from its Beijing-based parent ByteDance. Tariffs, tech curbs and rare earths were also on the table for discussion.

Beijing had been more circumspect about the prospects of an agreement, but in a possible sign of thawing relationship, China bought its first cargoes of U.S. soybeans in several months, Reuters reported Wednesday. 

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