President Trump emerged from his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday touting agreements on tariffs, rare earth exports and soybean purchases as the two superpowers reached truces on key issues.
The meeting, which marked the first in-person talks between Trump and Xi in six years, came amid economic tensions spurred by trade and after Trump announced the U.S. would resume nuclear testing.
Here are five deals the world leaders struck in South Korea.
US reduces China tariffs
The meeting’s top-line takeaway was Trump’s move lowering U.S. tariffs on China from 57 percent to 47 percent. While speaking to reporters on Air Force One en route back to Washington, Trump said the 10 percent reduction was a result of him agreeing to lower fentanyl-related tariffs on Beijing from 20 percent to 10 percent.
The president said Thursday’s announced tariff cut would be effective “immediately.”
Trump weeks before the meeting had threatened to increase tariffs on China over export control concerns.
Trump and his Republicans allies in Washington have looked to fiercely combat the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. during his second administration, making Thursday’s announcement on lowering fentanyl tariffs notable. The president said he was optimistic Xi would work hard to stop the illegal flow of fentanyl going forward.
“On fentanyl, we agreed he was going to work very hard to stop the flow,” Trump told reporters. “You know it’s a very complex subject because it’s used for lots of different reasons, including anesthetics. But he’s going to work very hard on it.”
“I think you’re going to see some real action taken,” the president predicted.
China pauses rare earth controls for one year
A major source of tension heading into the meeting was China’s recent announcement that it would tighten its control over the export of critical minerals and rare earth materials.
Trump appeared to score a major win in announcing that Beijing had agreed to delay the implementation of those changes for one year.
The president said on Truth Social that China had agreed to “continue the flow of Rare Earth, Critical Minerals, Magnets, etc., openly and freely.”
China is not expected to roll back existing export controls, but the delay provides the U.S. a reprieve while it shores up other supply chains.
Rare earths and critical minerals are used in numerous products, including cars, semiconductors and electronics like laptops.
China accounts for nearly 70 percent of the world’s rare earth mining as of 2024, and Beijing announced earlier this month tighter restrictions on what foreign entities could export products containing even a small percentage of critical minerals mined in China.
Trump in response sought to sign deals with Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia to increase cooperation on the mining and processing of critical minerals and rare earth material.
Trump’s nuclear testing casts shadow
Trump made news roughly an hour before his meeting with Xi when he announced in a Truth Social post that he was directing the Pentagon to immediately begin testing U.S. nuclear weapons on an equal basis to China and Russia.
“The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country,” Trump wrote. “This was accomplished, including a complete update and renovation of existing weapons, during my First Term in office. Because of the tremendous destructive power, I HATED to do it, but had no choice! Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years.”
Trump initially ignored a question from a reporter on the announcement during his meeting with Xi, but told reporters after that the news “had to do with others” when asked whether it had to do with Xi.
“They seem to all be nuclear testing. We have more nuclear weapons than anybody,” the president said.
“We don’t do testing, and we halted it many years ago, but with others doing testing, I think it’s appropriate that we do also,” he continued.
It’s unclear what type of testing Trump is alluding to. North Korea is the only country that has conducted nuclear testing since the 1990s. Russia has been testing nuclear-capable weapons tests, which does not include setting off actual bombs. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, meanwhile, has been testing missiles capable of having nuclear war heads as recently as this week.
Soybean purchases boost US farmers
U.S. soybean farmers had high hopes for the Trump-Xi meeting, as trade tensions between Washington and Beijing had hit them particularly hard.
Trump said following the meeting that Xi had authorized the purchase of soybeans, sorghum and “other farm products.”
“We’re in agreement on so many elements,” Trump said aboard Air Force One after the meeting. “Large amounts, tremendous amounts of the soybeans and other farm products are going to be purchased immediately, starting immediately.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Fox Business Network on Thursday that China had agreed to buy 12 million metric tons of soybeans through the remainder of the year and 25 million tons per year for the next three years.
The announcement will come as a relief to farmers and to farm state lawmakers who had expressed frustration with the ripple effects of Trump’s trade policies.
Agriculture Department data showed soybeans were the largest agricultural export from the U.S. in 2024. Roughly half those exports went to China, but that number dropped to zero earlier this year after Beijing stopped purchasing U.S. soybeans, turning instead to places like Argentina.
Not discussed: Taiwan, Russian oil, Blackwell chips
While a lot of ground was covered during the more than hourlong meeting between the U.S. and Chinese delegations, there were a number of key issues that did not come up among officials.
Trump told reporters that Taiwan, Russian oil, and Blackwell chips were not discussed during the sit-down with his Chinese counterpart.
“Taiwan never came up. It was not discussed, actually,” Trump said, noting Russia’s war in Ukraine was a topic of conversation.
“We’re both going to work together to see if we can get something done,” Trump said. “We agree that the sides are locked in, fighting, and sometimes you have to let them fight, I guess. Crazy. But he’s going to help us, and we’re going to work together on Ukraine.”
When asked about China’s history of purchasing Russian oil, Trump said, “we really didn’t discuss the oil,” talking instead about trying to end the war.
“He’s been buying oil from Russia for a long time. It takes care of a big part of China,” he said.
A third issue Trump said did not come up with Xi was approving the sale of Nvidia’s Blackwell chips to China.
“We’re not talking about the Blackwell. That just came out yesterday,” the president said.
Trump said he did discuss the issue of chips, generally, with Xi.
“[China is] going to be talking to Nvidia and others about taking chips.”
