Trump, Xi Reach Deal to Cut Tariffs

President Trump announced “we have a deal” shortly after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday in their first face-to-face since he returned to the White House.

“On the scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the best, I would say the meeting was a 12,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One after leaving the South Korean air base that hosted the nearly two-hour summit.

“We have a deal. Now, every year we will renegotiate the deal. But I think the deal will go on for a long time.”

Trump said that Xi agreed to pause for a period of one year Beijing’s new export restrictions on products made with rare-earth and critical minerals, which could have impacted the global supply of high-tech magnets, batteries and semiconductors.

The breakthrough averts Trump’s threatened 100% additional tariff on Chinese goods, which would have taken effect on Nov. 1 in protest of the export restrictions, which required companies to seek special permission for shipments.

“There’s no roadblock at all on rare earth,” he said. “It’s a one-year deal that I think will be very routinely extended.”

Trump said Xi also agreed to a renewed crackdown on fentanyl exports and that the US in turn would reduce the 20% fentanyl tariff on Chinese goods to 10%, bringing the average tariff on Chinese goods from 57.6% to 47.6% — slightly lower than the 50% rate currently applied to Brazil and India.

Xi additionally committed to buy “tremendous amounts of soybeans” after halting purchases this year in retaliation for Trump’s fentanyl tariff.

“What can I say? It was an outstanding group of decisions that was made. A lot of decisions were made too — it wasn’t too much left out there,” Trump said, adding that he plans to visit China in April.

“I thought it was an amazing meeting.”

In a subsequent Truth Social post, Trump said: “China also agreed that they will begin the process of purchasing American Energy. In fact, a very large scale transaction may take place concerning the purchase of Oil and Gas from the Great State of Alaska.”

Many of the core agreements were known in advance after US and Chinese negotiators hammered out a “framework” understanding during discussions in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The president did not say if the pending deal to transfer control of Tiktok in the US was discussed or finalized during the talks.

He confirmed that Taiwan was not discussed.

Trump said, however, that the men did talk about working together to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

“Ukraine came up very strongly. We talked about it for a long time,” he said.

“We didn’t really discuss the [Russian] oil [exports to China]. We discussed working together to see if we can get that war finished.”

Trump and Xi warmly greeted each other at the start of the summit, with Trump predicting a “great understanding” to thaw trade tensions.

“Great pleasure to see you again,” Xi told Trump as they shook hands after nearly a year of tit-for-tat economic escalations.

“China’s development goes hand in hand with your vision to make America great again,” Xi insisted at the start of their formal meeting moments later, with the leaders then holding private discussions for about 1 hour and 40 minutes.

“Our two countries are fully able to help each other succeed and prosper together,” Xi said. “Over the years I have stated in public many times that China and the United States should be partners and friends.”

Fentanyl, which triggered Trump’s initial tariffs on Chinese goods this year, is a highly potent synthetic opioid that’s largely produced in China and smuggled into the US, where it killed nearly 330,000 Americans over the past five years, according to federal data.

“On fentanyl, we agreed that he was going to work very hard to stop the flow… I think you’re going to see some real action taken,” Trump said. “I think you’re going to see a big difference.”

Xi previously committed to crack down on fentanyl during Trump’s first term by imposing the death penalty on exporters — but exports instead skyrocketed at the end of 2020 as the US-China relationship cratered during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The drug killed roughly one in every 1,000 Americans in the five-year period ending in April, the most recent month for which CDC data are available.

Xi again committed to halt the flow of fentanyl at a summit with then-President Joe Biden in November 2023.

Since the Biden meeting, overdose deaths have dropped — with roughly 44,000 Americans dying between March 2024 and April 2025, down from 68,000 in the prior 12-month period — though there’s debate about whether that’s merely the result of the high prior body count among drug users.

Trump told The Post last Thursday that “the first question I’m going to be asking [Xi] about is fentanyl.”

“They make $100 million selling fentanyl into our country — $100 million. They lose $100 billion with the 20% tariff,” he said. “So it’s not a good business proposition.