A one-year agreement between the US and China: Trump announces compromise in trade talks
30 October 2025 10:10
US President Donald Trump has said that Chinese President Xi Jinping has agreed to postpone export restrictions on rare earth metals as part of a broad one-year trade deal that the US and Chinese leaders reached at a summit in South Korea.
This was reported by the Financial Times, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
“It was an incredible meeting,” the US president told reporters on board Air Force One on his way to Washington on Thursday. “On a scale of 0 to 10, it was a 12.
Trump said that the parties made an “outstanding set of decisions” and that the US and China would sign a trade agreement “pretty soon”.
“There are not many obstacles,” he added. “We will renegotiate the agreement every year, but I think it will last much longer than one year.
Trump said the two sides had settled the so-called “rare earths dispute” – referring to the massive export restrictions announced by China this month. China dominates the supply chain for rare earth metals, and control over these critical materials for global manufacturers has sharply increased tensions.
Trump also said he had agreed to reduce the “fentanyl” tariff on Chinese goods from 20% to 10%, as Xi pledged to “very aggressively” curb exports of the opioid’s chemical precursors. “I think you’re going to see real action,” he added.
According to Trump, the parties also discussed semiconductors, and Nvidia will be talking to China about chip exports. At the same time, it was not about the most advanced chips. Trump said he would visit China in April, and Xi will pay a return visit to the United States.
China’s state media did not confirm the agreements, saying only: “The two heads of state agreed to strengthen cooperation in the areas of trade and economy, energy, and the development of cultural exchanges.”
The CCP’s official publication, the People’s Daily, quoted Xi as saying: “The two teams should finalize the next steps as soon as possible, adhere to the consensus reached and ensure tangible results.”
Xi said that “the recent zigzags in China-US trade and economic relations” prove that trade should be a “ballast” of relations, not a “point of conflict.”
As a reminder, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the start of new nuclear weapons tests. He ordered the Pentagon to do so following Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s statements about the “successful” testing of an unlimited-range missile.
