Washington — President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday (Wednesday night US time) as the two leaders seek to reach a trade deal that they can both call a victory.
The meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m. local time or 10 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Mr. Trump’s threat to impose an additional 100% tariff rate on Chinese products from November 1 is “effectively off the table” for now, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” Trump threatened to slap an additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports, raising tariffs on Chinese goods to 155%, in retaliation for China’s increased export controls on rare earth minerals and magnets. China has the vast majority of the world’s supply of those raw materials, critical for manufacturing in key technology areas such as semiconductors and missiles.
The president on Wednesday saying hopes to leave the meeting with an agreement.
“I hope we reach an agreement,” Trump said. “I think we’re going to come to an agreement. I think it’s going to be a good deal for both of us. The world is watching and I think we’re going to have something very exciting for everyone.”
The White House public schedule allotted less than two hours for the meeting with Xi, although Trump said on a hot microphone during a dinner hosted by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung that the meeting with Xi would last “three to four hours.”
Aboard Air Force One on Wednesday, Trump said he believes he will reduce tariffs imposed on Chinese imports earlier this year over fentanyl trafficking after his meeting with Xi, noting that China would “work with me” to reach a compromise.
Bessent told “Face the Nation” that he hopes the threat of 100% tariffs has “gone away, as has the threat of the immediate imposition of the Chinese starting a global export control regime.”
Bessent also said he hopes Trump and Xi sign a deal On Thursday it placed TikTok under majority American ownership, although Chinese-owned ByteDance could still have a minority stake of less than 20%.
In August, Trump signed an executive action delaying the reinstatement of higher tariffs on Chinese goods for another 90 days, extending the pause until mid-November.
U.S. and Chinese officials have been holding trade talks for months ahead of Thursday’s Trump-Xi meeting.
Trump’s first secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said Trump should commit to Taiwan independence.
“Xi Jinping is expected to press President Trump to clarify the US stance toward Taiwan at their meeting this week,” Pompeo. wrote on social media. “The United States should honor and affirm our unequivocal commitment to Taiwan’s sovereignty and independence from Beijing.”
The last time Trump and Xi met in person was on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Japan in 2019, during Trump’s first term, although the two leaders spoke by phone. The last conversation the White House revealed between the two men was on September 19.
Busan, known as an educational and cultural center along Korea’s southeastern coast, is South Korea’s second most populous city behind its capital, Seoul. The meeting with Xi is the last item on Trump’s agenda on his five-day tour of Asia, concluding a trip aimed primarily at strengthening economic ties and cementing trade deals in the South Pacific.
