Trump-Xi Meeting 2025: US-China Tariff Cuts, Rare Earth Deal, and Soybean Purchases — 5 Key Highlights

Busan, South Korea: President Trump and President Xi Jinping met on Thursday in Busan at the time when sore agreements were made on trade and geopolitics, which included tariff reductions and the export of rare earths, reviving the purchase of soybeans from the United States.

Terming the meeting a "great success," Trump said that resolutions on long-standing trade disputes had been reached and that a renewed phase of cooperation between Washington and Beijing stood launched as a result of the dialogue.

Here are the five major takeaways from the Trump-Xi summit:

1. Huge Punitive Tariff Cuts on Chinese Goods

President Trump stated that he was reducing tariffs set for fentanyl imports by 10%, bringing them from 20% down to 10% immediately. In the discussions of China's alleged actions to stop illegal fentanyl trade, overall tariffs on Chinese imports had also been reduced from 57% to 47%.

“I expect to be lowering that because I believe they’re going to help us with the fentanyl situation,” Trump said aboard Air Force One. “The relationship with China is very good.”

After China restricted rare earth exports earlier this month, Trump had gone on a threat of placing a 100% import tax, but Thursday's result was a huge de-escalation.

2. Cooperation on Ukraine Conflict

Trump revealed that he and Xi spoke at length about the war in Ukraine and agreed that they "would work together" to find diplomatic routes.

"Ukraine came up very strongly. We are both going to work together to see if we can get something," Trump said, "but direct intervention will be quite difficult."

This is also a rare admission that the US and China have spoken about Ukraine since the war started.

3. China to Resume US Soybean Purchases

Beijing has agreed immediately to resume large-scale purchases of US soybeans so as to provide relief for agricultural trade tensions.

The new tariff regime being in place, sending its first cargoes to China from the US harvest, Reuters stated, China's state-owned COFCO has already purchased three cargoes from this year's US harvest.

4. Rare Earths Export Deal Finalized

Trump said in what he called a breakthrough that an agreement has been reached with China for one year renewable to ensure no interruptions in the exports of rare earth minerals to the United States.

"All the rare earth issues have been settled," said Trump.

Rare earth elements enable us to make fighter jets, electric vehicles, robotics, and semiconductors while China produces these materials in abundance worldwide. The deal is expected to give some breathing room to the US tech and defense industries.

5. Trump is Scheduled to Visit China in April 2026

Closing up the meeting, Trump stated that a state visit to China would take place in April 2026, with a reciprocal visit from Xi Jinping to the United States occurring later next year.

"I'll be going to China in April, and he will be coming here sometime after that," Trump said, calling Xi a "tremendous leader of a very powerful country."

Trump also indicated that the discussion touched upon chip access for Nvidia in China but clarified that at least the most advanced Blackwell processors will continue to be off-limits.

Hence, in brief:

The Trump-Xi Busan summit mixes a degree of thawing in the US-China relations, with immediate trade relief, agricultural cooperation, and renewed diplomatic engagement on issues related to global security. While Beijing has yet to issue an official statement, analysts see the developments as a possible turning point in global trade.