The President of the United States, Donald Trump, declared that he agreed to reduce tariffs imposed on Chinese imports, following a meeting with the President of China, Xi Jinping, in South Korea. According to the Axios website, the decision comes in exchange for Beijing’s commitments to buy American soybeans, to allow the export of rare minerals, and to combat fentanyl trafficking.
A possible trade truce between the world’s two largest economies would be welcomed with relief by the business environment, investors, and consumers.
Speaking to journalists aboard Air Force One, en route to Washington, Trump announced that tariffs on Chinese exports would be reduced from 57% to 47%.
The American president described the meeting with Xi as “excellent”, stating that “many important decisions” were made and that the dispute over rare metals is now “resolved”. Trump characterized the meeting as a “major success”.
“On a scale from 0 to 10, I would say the meeting was a 12”, declared the White House leader, adding that he and Xi reached “almost a complete agreement”.
Trump also announced that he plans to visit Beijing in April, with Xi to make an official visit to the United States subsequently.
Chinese authorities have not yet commented on the results of the discussions.
It remains unclear whether durable agreements have been obtained on the main points of divergence between the two states: access to rare mineral resources, soybean purchases, combating fentanyl trafficking, and restrictions on the export of sensitive American technologies, such as chips for artificial intelligence.
For the moment, Trump has ruled out imposing an additional 100% tax on Chinese products, a measure with which he recently threatened Beijing.