US President Donald Trump announced that the US will lower tariffs imposed on Chinese fentanyl-related goods from 20% to 10%, after he meets with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea.
Trump called his meeting a “great success” and announced he will travel to China in April for new talks.
“I’ll be in China in April, and [Xi] will come here a little later, to Florida, at Palm Beach, or in Washington,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “We settled on a lot of points” during the talks in Busan, he added, calling Xi “an exceptional leader of a very strong country.”
Xi will work “very hard to stop the flow” of fentanyl, Trump said, and the tariffs were reduced “because I believe they’re taking really strong action.” Trump stated that many decisions were made at the summit with Xi Jinping, which he called an “amazing meeting.”
China will buy “massive quantities” of US soybeans and other agricultural products “starting immediately,” and a one-year agreement on rare earth minerals was also reached, which will be extended after a year, Trump said.
Trump says agreement reached with China on rare earth minerals
“They will not impose the rare earth controls,” he stated.
This agreement, for which Trump gave few details other than that it would likely be extended, “settles” the issue, he said.
“The whole rare earth issue was settled,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “And this applies to the world, globally, you could say it was a global situation, not just a US-only situation.”
“There is no impediment on rare earths. We hope that will disappear from our vocabulary for a while,” he said.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamison Greer, who was also aboard the presidential plane, stated that China would not impose the rare earth export controls it had planned following the understanding between the two presidents. He made no comment on controls that are already in place.
Trump had previously stated that he expected to reduce U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for Beijing’s commitment to curb the flow of chemicals used to produce fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid that is the leading cause of overdose deaths among Americans.
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