“I think we’re going to have something that will be very, very satisfactory to China and to us,” Trump told his dinner companions, referring to the prospect of a deal with the Chinese president.
At one point he commented that he anticipated the meeting with Xi would last between three and four hours.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump revealed that he hoped to reduce the 20 percent tariff he imposed on China earlier this year as punishment for its role in fentanyl trafficking in exchange for greater law enforcement cooperation.
Trump was the guest of honor at the dinner, but it was not immediately clear on what basis the other six countries – Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore – earned an invitation, other than that they were in town for the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit meeting.
Canada’s Mark Carney walked into the dinner ignoring reporters’ questions about whether he had a message for the U.S. president, who this week vowed to raise taxes on Canada in outrage over an anti-tariff television ad that aired in Ontario. The two sat across from each other, even though Trump had made it clear he had no time for Canada on his six-day tour of Asia.
Charging
“I don’t want to meet with him,” he said of Carney on Monday.
Albanese joked that Carney and Singapore leader Lawrence Wong should have “shared the trip” to the event, each fresh from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) conference summit in Kuala Lumpur that week.
Earlier in the day, Lee elevated Trump to the royal treatment as Air Force One touched down on the runway to the sound of a military band playing “YMCA,” his pep song for rallies across the United States. Lee later gifted Trump a replica of the gold crown of the ancient Korean kingdom of Silla and awarded him the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, Korea’s highest honor.
Albanese will have his own bilateral meeting with President Lee tomorrow, a meeting that is sure to be significantly more low-key, and will visit the headquarters of global steelmaker Pohang Iron and Steel Company, before the APEC summit begins in earnest on Friday.
But the conference, coming at the end of a busy summit season, has been overshadowed by high-stakes meetings taking place on the sidelines.
President Donald Trump shakes hands with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung as he receives the gift of a gold crown.Credit: AP
The stage has been set for Trump and Xi to sign a deal that is expected to reverse some of the latest trade restrictions the countries have imposed on each other, after negotiators from both sides agreed to a consensus framework earlier in the week.
As part of the anticipated agreement, the United States expects Beijing to delay for a year the sweeping new restrictions it launched on rare earth exports, while Trump will drop his threat to hit Chinese goods with an additional 100-per-duty tariff on Nov. 1.
In a sign of imminent progress on the eve of the meeting, China made its first purchase of American soybeans for the season after boycotting them for months.
China did not confirm the meeting between Xi and Trump until Wednesday afternoon.
“We are willing to make joint efforts with the United States to promote the positive results of this meeting and provide new guidance and impetus for the stable development of China-U.S. relations,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.
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