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New Delhi: US and China have agreed for a one-year deal on the supply of crucial rare earths as presidents of the two countries -- Donald Trump and Xi Jinping -- met on Thursday, first face-to-face engagement between the two leaders after a gap of six long years, amid ongoing tariff tensions. The meeting is being held in Busan in South Korea on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. "We gonna have a very successful meeting, I have no doubt," said Trump as he met Xi. The US President also called Xi "a very tough negotiator".
Trump said that several key decisions have been made during the key meeting and announced 10 per cent tariff reduction on China to 47 per cent. The US President further said he will visit China in April and sign a trade deal soon. He said that China will begin buying soybeans from the United States immediately. He also said that the rare earth issue has been settled and that there will be no more roadblocks on rare earth exports from China.
"We are going to issue a statement with some of the details but overall I guess on the scale of 0 - 10 with 10 being the best, the meeting was a 12," he said aboard Air Force One.
Trade tensions and regional security dominated the meeting between the two world leaders. Ahead of the high-stakes meeting, Trump said that he expects to seal a "great deal" with China. "The expected trade deal would be good for both countries and something very exciting for everybody," he said while speaking on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
What Trump and Xi about US- China ties
Heaping praise on his Chinese counterpart, the US President called him “a great leader of a great country” and said the two sides had “already agreed to a lot of things.”
"We have already agreed to a lot of things, and we'll agree to some more right now, but President Xi is a great leader of a great country, and 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.
Meanwhile, Xi told Trump that the two countries did not always see eye to eye but they should strive to be "partners and friends." "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.
Trump-Xi meeting amid tariff tensions
Tensions between China and the US escalated earlier this month after Beijing proposed restrictions on the exports of rare-earth elements that are vital for high-tech products and defence applications. Following this, Trump threatened to impose 100 per cent tariff on Chinese exports and potential limits on goods made with US software destined for China.
The meeting assumes significance as China and the US have been locked in a diplomatic tensions for months, marked by trade dispute and tariff tensions and the leaders of the two countries are looking to rebuild their trade truce through the renewed engagement. Trump and Xi had last met face-to-face during the US President's first term in 2019.
