The agenda of the one hour and 40 minutes meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping appears not to have touched on some perennial problems such as tensions over the self-governed island of Taiwan.
But Trump said China had agreed to buy large quantities of American farm products and to ensure steady supplies of rare earths elements used in many industries. Here are some of the key takeaways from the meeting.
Rolling back tariffs
Photo: Reuters
Trump told reporters that he had agreed to cut to 10% his 20% tariff increase imposed over China’s role in producing fentanyl and chemicals used to make it. China confirmed that will take average tariffs on Chinese goods the U.S. imports to 47% from 57%.
Other tariff increases remain in place, but for now, the two sides have extended a truce on even steeper tariff increases that began in May when Trump and Xi agreed to pause those to allow time to work on a framework for resolving trade tensions.
Trump said that he would go to China in April and Xi would come to the U.S. “some time after that.”
Sales of computer chips to China
China will speak with Silicon Valley chipmaker Nvidia about purchasing their computer chips. That won’t include its next-generation Blackwell AI chip, Trump said, “but a lot of the chips.”
U.S. soybeans and other farm exports
Trump said the Chinese side has committed to buying “a tremendous amount” of American soybeans, sorghum and other farm products.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said China has agreed to buy 12 million metric tons of American soybeans during the current season and to buying 25 million tons annually for the next three years.
Rare earths, port fees and U.S energy sales
Trump said China had agreed not to tighten restrictions on exports of rare earths and the technology and equipment used to process them. Trump earlier had threatened a 100% import tax because of China’s rare earth restrictions.
“Xi had agreed to a one-year reprieve on the curbs that is likely to be “routinely extended.” “All of the rare earth has been settled, and that’s for the world,” Trump said.
China and the U.S. likewise said they would not impose higher port fees on each others vessels. Trump also said China had agreed to begin purchasing oil and gas from Alaska.
No TikTok deal yet
Beijing said it will work with the Trump administration to resolve issues related to TokTok’s ownership.
Ukraine
The U.S. and China will “work together” on ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, Trump said, adding, “Ukraine came up very strongly, we talked about it for a long time.”
China’s take on the meeting
According to Chinese state media, stressing that dialogue is better than confrontation, Xi listed a range of issues where China and the U.S. could work together, including combating illegal immigration and telecom fraud, anti-money laundering efforts, artificial intelligence and handling infectious diseases.
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