US President Donald Trump positively assessed his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, stating that they had reached a trade agreement that could be signed in the near future, although he did not share any additional details, but also reported that he was lowering fentanyl-related tariffs against China and that the issue of rare earth metals was "resolved," UNN reports with reference to CNN.
Trade agreement
When asked by a reporter aboard Air Force One when he thought a deal might be reached, Trump replied, "I think pretty soon, we don't have too many serious obstacles."
He then adopted a more decisive tone, stating, "We have a deal. Now every year we will review the deal, but I think it will last a long time."
"It's a one-year deal, and we'll extend it in a year," he added.
He added that he and Xi had agreed on "almost everything," including soybean trade and fentanyl-related tariffs.
"We discussed many elements that you constantly talk about," Trump said.
Tariffs
US President Donald Trump said he was lowering fentanyl-related tariffs to 10% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
"As you know, I imposed 20% tariffs on China due to fentanyl imports, which is a big tariff," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after departing from South Korea.
"I reduced it by 10%, so it's 10% instead of 20%, effective immediately," he said.
Trump added that he believes Xi "will work very hard to stop the flow of deaths."
The Trump administration accuses China of "supporting" the influx into the US of fentanyl, a laboratory-made synthetic opioid that is dozens of times stronger than heroin. Abuse of this drug and its analogues has caused a drug overdose crisis in the US, killing tens of thousands of Americans annually, although these numbers have significantly decreased in the past year.
According to Beijing, it has exceeded international norms to stop the outflow of this drug and its constituent chemicals from its vast pharmaceutical sector. In 2019, Beijing took control of fentanyl as a class of drugs – an important step that sharply reduced the flow of the finished drug directly from China to the US, according to experts and American officials.
Rare earths
US President Donald Trump also said on Thursday that the issue of rare earth element supplies from China has been resolved. Beijing is expected to lift some export restrictions that have caused tensions between Beijing and Washington.
"The whole rare earth element issue is settled, and that's for the whole world," he told reporters aboard Air Force One after meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea.
"That obstacle is now gone... There is no obstacle at all regarding rare earth elements. Hopefully, that will disappear from our vocabulary for a while," he said, adding that the US will be able to continue purchasing and producing rare earth elements.
China has an almost monopoly on global supplies and production of critical resources that are essential for the production of almost all high-tech products, from iPhones to electric vehicles.
Earlier this month, China significantly tightened export controls on critical minerals. Beijing called the move a response to Washington's expansion of technology export controls in late September. The reciprocal actions led to renewed friction that had begun to subside after trade talks in Malaysia last weekend.
US Trade Representative Jamison Greer said that Trump and Xi "reached an understanding" and that Beijing would not "implement their proposed rare earth controls." It is currently unclear whether all of Beijing's restrictions will be lifted.