Sunday, November 2, 2025

US China Deal 11-2-25

Trump lowers tariffs on China and announces end to 'rare earths roadblock' after Xi meeting 

Summary

Our live coverage of the Trump-Xi meeting has now closed - read our news story here

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have met in South Korea - leading to a series of announcements on closer trade ties

On the way back to Washington, Trump says the meeting was a 12 out of 10 - Beijing says the results were "hard-won"

The US will cut the "fentanyl tariff" on Chinese goods entering the US from 20% to 10%, Trump says

In return, China will start "the purchase of massive amounts of soybeans" and other farm products, according to the US president

China says they will make it easier for the US to buy rare earths - we explain what they are here

In return, China says, the US will suspend an expansion of export controls on foreign firms listed on the Entity List, which had hit Chinese companies

Trump says a US-China trade deal could be signed "pretty soon" - but there is no ink on paper, and that is the crucial part right now, writes our correspondent in Korea, Laura Bicker

US President Donald Trump has praised an "amazing" meeting with China's Xi Jinping, following a series of announcements bridging trade between the world's largest economies.

The pair met at Busan airport in South Korea, to cap off Trump's whirlwind tour of Asia - and the meeting ended in a partial stand-down in ongoing trade tensions, including a reduction of tariffs on some Chinese goods entering the US.

On Beijing's part, it has agreed to suspend export controls on rare earths - critical for technology from electric vehicles to smartphones - while Trump has said China will also buy "massive" amounts of soybeans, and other farm products.

In words relayed by our North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher, Trump said aboard Air Force One that he rated the talks a “12 on a scale of one to 10”. The agreements will have global ramifications. But, as our China correspondent Laura Bicker points out, there is no ink on paper for a deal between two superpowers who have spent much of this year trading economic threats.

Following today's meeting between Xi, Trump and their teams of top officials, our correspondents have broken down what it all means.

China correspondent Laura Bicker says the two countries have "stepped back from the brink of a global trade war" in this "breakthrough".

"Trade deals normally take years to negotiate", says Asia Business correspondent Suranjana Tewari, "so it's no surprise that Xi Jinping and Donald Trump didn't sign on the dotted line" today.

That doesn’t mean the agreements made today weren’t significant – especially on rare earths, soybeans, and tariffs. Rare earth materials will offer "short term relief" for carmakers producing more electric vehicles in the US, says business reporter Jonathan Josephs.

Meanwhile "an agreement on soybeans is a win for Trump", says Tewari, as US farmers have been "losing billions of dollars in sales of the crop to China over the trade friction

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cd7ry3x0nvet

Comments

It looks like Trump bought some time on Rare Earth imports from China and got a break on Soybean Exports to China.

We will see if China finally stops its fentanyl exports to the drug cartels. The 100% Tariff on China has been dropped. The Total Updated China Import Tariffs are now at 47%.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

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