Trump-Xi meeting live: China and US to negotiate rare earths, tariffs

Thursday, 30 Oct 2025

United States President Donald Trump is meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, amid frictions over trade.
   
Trump has expressed optimism about the meeting and hinted he may lower tariffs on Chinese exports to the US: “I think we’re going to have a deal.”
    
Tensions escalated this month, with Trump threatening to raise tariffs on Chinese products to 100 percent after Beijing imposed new global restrictions on rare earth minerals, which are key for modern technology.
    
Negotiators from both sides say a “framework” has been agreed leading up to Trump and Xi’s first face-to-face meeting since 2019.
    
Key issues include measures to halt the flow of chemicals using in the manufacture of fentanyl, export controls on rare earths, Chinese imports of US soybeans, semiconductors for artificial intelligence, and the fate of TikTok.

Trump, Xi talks begin

After Xi’s opening remarks, the talks have officially begun.

Trump thanked Xi but did not make additional comments.

Here’s a recap of what they have said so far.

Trump called Xi a “tough negotiator” but also a “great leader of a great country”.
    
“I think we’re going to have a fantastic relationship for a long period of time, and it’s an honour to have you with us,” Trump said.
    
Xi said “it feels warm to see Trump”, adding that it was “normal” for the world’s two largest economies to have “frictions now and then”.
    
The Chinese leader said he believes China’s development “goes hand in hand with” Trump’s Make America Great Again vision and that he stands ready to “work with you to build a solid foundation for US-China relations”.
    
Xi also hailed Trump’s diplomacy, congratulating him on the ceasefire in Gaza and his contributions to the Cambodia-Thailand peace accord. “China and the US can jointly shoulder our responsibility as major countries and work together to accomplish more great and concrete things for the good of our two countries and the whole world,” he said.

He said China and the US must be partners and friends.

“This is what history has taught us and what reality demands,” he added.

Xi went on to hail the “basic consensus” and “encouraging progress” reached by the two sides in trade talks, saying this provided the necessary conditions for their meeting.

“Mr President, I’m ready to work with you to build a solid foundation for US-China relations,” he said.

Xi also spoke on Trump’s enthusiasm for “settling various regional hotspot issues” and highlighted the US leader’s “great contribution to the recent conclusion of the Gaza ceasefire agreement”, as well as to a peace deal in the border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand.

“The world today is confronted with many tough problems. China and the US can jointly shoulder our responsibility as major countries and work together to accomplish great and concrete things for the good of our two countries and the whole world,” he added.

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