Aboard Air Force One – US President Donald Trump said on Oct 30 that he had agreed to cut fentanyl-related tariffs on China to 10 per cent from 20 per cent

in South Korea.

Mr Xi will work “very hard to stop the flow” of fentanyl, Mr Trump said, and the tariff was reduced “because I believe they are really taking strong action”.

Mr Trump said a great deal of decisions were made in his summit with his Chinese counterpart, describing it as “an amazing meeting”.

“We have – it was an outstanding group of decisions, I think, that was made,” Mr Trump said. “A lot of decisions were made.”

He also said a dispute between China and the United States had been “settled”.

China will purchase “tremendous amounts” of US soybeans and other farm products “starting immediately”, and a one-year agreement on rare earths has been reached which will be extended after a year, Mr Trump said.

Mr Trump called the meeting a great success, saying that it was a “12” on a scale of one to 10.

He added that he would be planning a visit to China in April 2026.

“I’ll be going to China in April and he’ll be coming here sometime after that, whether it’s in Florida, Palm Beach or Washington, DC,” Mr Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

“A lot of things we brought to finalisation” at the Oct 30 talks in Busan, South Korea, added Mr Trump, praising Mr Xi as a “tremendous leader of a very powerful country”.

China, as part of the agreement, will pause a rare-earths licensing regime for at least a year.

“There’s no roadblock at all on rare earths,” Mr Trump said. “That will hopefully disappear from our vocabulary for a little while.”

Beijing has sought the lifting of 20 per cent tariffs over fentanyl among other matters.

Mr Trump had said earlier he expects to reduce US tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for Beijing’s commitment to curb the flow of precursor chemicals to make fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid that is the leading cause of American overdose deaths.

The leaders also agreed to work together on Ukraine, Mr Trump said, but added that Taiwan was not discussed in the meeting.

The US President said he had been too “busy” to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his visit this week to South Korea, but added he could return.

“I had a great relationship with Kim Jong Un,” he told reporters on board Air Force One departing South Korea on the last leg of his Asia trip. AFP, REUTERS