\n<\/p>\n
In case you\u2019re just joining us, here\u2019s a rundown on what happened at the high-stakes talks between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in South Korea.<\/p>\n
Trump said afterwards that Washington\u2019s dispute with Beijing over the supply of rare earths had been settled, China would resume buying US soybeans and Washington would reduce its tariffs on China.<\/p>\n
Trump shook hands with Xi after their talks and boarded Air Force One to return to Washington, saying onboard that the meeting had been a \u201cgreat success\u201d.<\/p>\n
He told reporters the Chinese leader had agreed to work \u201cvery hard\u201d to prevent the production of the synthetic opioid fentanyl \u2013 blamed for many American deaths \u2013 and in exchange the US would reduce fentanyl-linked tariffs from 20% to 10%, lowering the overall tariff burden from 57% to 47%.<\/p>\n
Trump also said he would visit China in April and that Xi would come to the US some time afterwards.<\/p>\n
In key developments:<\/p>\n
Xi<\/strong> said after the meeting that he and Trump had reached \u201cconsensus\u201d on trade issues<\/strong>, Chinese state media reported. Xi said both sides should \u201cfinalise follow-up work as soon as possible, maintain and implement the consensus and provide tangible results to set minds at ease about the economies of China, the United States and the world\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Trump said they had agreed to work together on Ukraine<\/strong>, adding that the war \u201ccame up very strongly\u201d as an issue. \u201cWe talked about it for a long time, and we\u2019re both going to work together to see if we can get something.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Taiwan was not discussed at the meeting<\/strong>, Trump said. Earlier, both leaders ignored a question about the self-governing democracy, amid concern in Taipei that Trump may be willing to make concessions to Xi.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Before the meeting at Gimhae airbase in Busan, South Korea<\/strong> \u2013 their first face-to-face meeting in six years \u2013 Trump and Xi shook hands in front of their countries\u2019 flags and the US president said: \u201cWe\u2019re going to have a very successful meeting.\u201d He added: \u201cHe\u2019s a tough negotiator \u2013 that\u2019s not good,\u201d before patting the Chinese leader on the back.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/span>Trump and Xi shake hands as they leave after their talks in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday. <\/span> Photograph: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Trump had suggested before the meeting \u2013 at which their delegations faced each other across a negotiating table \u2013 that it could last three or four hours.<\/strong> The two leaders parted after one hour and 40 minutes.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Xi said China and the US should \u201cstay on the right course\u201d and \u201cbe partners and friends\u201d<\/strong> and should \u201cwork together to accomplish more great and concrete things for the good of our two countries and the whole world\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The optimism in Busan was in stark contrast to the recent exchanges of aggressive rhetoric<\/strong> over trade that had threatened to set the US and Chinese on an economic collision course, with potentially disastrous consequences globally. China\u2019s yuan retreated from a near one-year high against the dollar on Thursday after the meeting met expectations but gave investors few new reasons for trade optimism.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Minutes before meeting Xi, Trump said in a social media post that he had ordered the Pentagon to start nuclear weapons testing<\/strong> at the same level of China and Russia. He did not respond to a reporter\u2019s question about the decision as he and Xi began their summit. Share<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.47 EDT<\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n <\/span>Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n In the same Fox Business Network interview, US Treasury<\/strong> secretary Scott Bessent <\/strong>said China<\/strong> had agreed to buy 12m metric tons of American soya beans during the current season through January and has committed to buying 25m tons annually for the next three years as part of a larger trade agreement with Beijing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Bessent told Fox Business Network\u2019s Mornings with Maria programme that other countries in Southeast Asia have agreed to buy another 19m tons of US soya beans, but did not specify a timeframe for those purchases.<\/p>\n \u201cSo our great soybean farmers, who the Chinese used as political pawns, that\u2019s off the table, and they should prosper in the years to come,\u201d Bessent said.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n The US<\/strong> and China<\/strong> could sign a trade agreement as soon as next week, US Treasury<\/strong> secretary Scott Bessent<\/strong> said on Thursday after President Donald Trump<\/strong>\u2019s meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Kuala Lumpur agreement was finished in the middle of the night last night, so I expect we will exchange signatures possibly as soon as next week,\u201d Bessent said in an interview on Fox Business Network.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n US Treasury<\/strong> secretary Scott Bessent<\/strong> on Thursday said that the US would enact a one-year suspension of Entity List<\/strong> restrictions that make it harder for Chinese<\/strong> firms to use affiliates to buy off-limits technology.<\/p>\n The moratorium comes after President Donald Trump<\/strong> and Chinese leader Xi Jinping<\/strong> were able to discuss big picture issues with great respect at their meeting earlier in the day in South Korea<\/strong>, Bessent said in an interview on Fox Business Network.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.33 EDT<\/p>\n Wall Street<\/strong> futures were slightly lower on Thursday as investors assessed the Federal Reserve<\/strong>\u2019s remarks, Big Tech<\/strong> earnings, and a newly announced US-China trade deal<\/strong>, reports Reuters<\/p>\n The Fed delivered the expected quarter-point cut on Wednesday, but flagged gaps in official data amid the federal shutdown, which could impact its future decisions. Chair Jerome Powell<\/strong> said policymakers may turn more cautious if jobs and inflation data stay scarce.<\/p>\n Powell\u2019s comments prompted traders to unwind some bets on another similar-sized move at the Fed\u2019s December meeting to about 70% from 90% earlier this week.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Nvidia<\/strong> CEO Jensen Huang<\/strong> said on Thursday he was confident that US<\/strong> president Donald Trump<\/strong> and Chinese<\/strong> leader Xi Jinping<\/strong> had a good conversation during a meeting in South Korea<\/strong> earlier in the day.<\/p>\n Huang was speaking as he arrived at a restaurant in Seoul<\/strong> with Samsung Electronics<\/strong> chair Jay Y Lee<\/strong> and Hyundai Motor Group<\/strong> executive chair Euisun Chung<\/strong>, reports Reuters.<\/p>\n Huang said he was looking forward to meeting South Korea\u2019s president on Friday and that his company and the country had many announcements to make.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n The Kremlin<\/strong> on Thursday reacted cautiously to US<\/strong> president Donald Trump<\/strong>\u2019s remarks about the resumption of nuclear weapons testing, saying that Russia<\/strong> had not tested but that Moscow<\/strong> would follow suit if Washington<\/strong> did.<\/p>\n Trump ordered the US military on Thursday to immediately resume testing nuclear weapons after a gap of 33 years, minutes before beginning a meeting with Chinese<\/strong> president Xi Jinping<\/strong>. Trump said that because of \u201cother countries testing programmes\u201d the US would start testing \u201con an equal basis\u201d.<\/p>\n According to Reuters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov<\/strong> told reporters:<\/p>\n President Trump mentioned in his statement that other countries are engaged in testing nuclear weapons. Until now, we didn\u2019t know that anyone was testing.<\/p>\n Russia, he said, had received no prior notification from the US about a change to Washington\u2019s position on nuclear testing.<\/p>\n Asked if the Kremlin felt that a new nuclear arms race had been triggered by Trump\u2019s remarks, Peskov said: \u201cNot really.\u201d<\/p>\n Peskov underscored that Russia\u2019s test of the Burevestnik cruise missile<\/strong> on 21 October and the Poseidon nuclear-powered super torpedo<\/strong> on 28 October were most definitely not nuclear weapons tests.<\/p>\n Vladimir Putin<\/strong>, who commands the world\u2019s biggest nuclear arsenal, has repeatedly said that if any country tests a nuclear weapon then Russia will do so too. Peskov said:<\/p>\n I want to recall President Putin\u2019s statement, which has been repeated many times: if someone departs from the moratorium, Russia will act accordingly.<\/p>\n Post-Soviet Russia has never tested a nuclear weapon. The Soviet Union<\/strong> last tested in 1990, the US last tested in 1992 and China in 1996.<\/p>\n ShareLisa O\u2019Carroll<\/span><\/p>\n With Donald Trump<\/strong> heading back to the US<\/strong> after striking an agreement with China<\/strong>\u2019s president Xi Jinping<\/strong>, the focus now switches to the EU<\/strong>, with a senior delegation heading to Brussels<\/strong> for crunch talks over the choking off of supplies of rare earths to semiconductors.<\/p>\n Yesterday, the car industry said it was \u201cdays away\u201d from assembly line stoppages after Beijing<\/strong>\u2019s ban on exports of chips from Nexperia<\/strong> in China in a row over the Dutch<\/strong> government\u2019s decision to take control of its Netherland\u2019s operations amid security fears.<\/p>\n The EU is now questioning whether its policy, drawn up in 2023, to \u201cderisk\u201d from China rather than \u201cdecouple\u201d is working as Beijing\u2019s stranglehold on rare earths and critical raw materials allows it to turn off and on supplies according to its political will.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is all part of a new strategy where China is repeatedly now taking steps that bring European industry and other industries around the world to the point of choking them off,\u201d Andrew Small<\/strong>, senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is no longer that Europe is collateral damage, it is China targeting Europe and I think people are beginning to understand that now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n ShareLisa O\u2019Carroll<\/span><\/p>\n Donald Trump<\/strong> has used his Truth Social platform to declare the trade tensions with China<\/strong> are \u201cvery close to being resolved\u201d as he urges US<\/strong> farmers to go out and buy \u201cmore land and bigger tractors\u201d as Beijing<\/strong> ends its soya bean embargo.<\/p>\n The US exports about \u00a318bn worth of soya bean a year, half of which goes to China, but China stopped buying the product leaving Trump contemplating a multi-billion dollar bailout for farmers.<\/p>\n Trump said on Truth Social:<\/p>\n I had a truly great meeting with President Xi of China. There is enormous respect between our two Countries, and that will only be enhanced with what just took place.<\/p>\n We agreed on many things, with others, even of high importance, being very close to resolved. I was extremely honored by the fact that President Xi authorized China to begin the purchase of massive amounts of Soybeans, Sorghum, and other Farm products.<\/p>\n Our Farmers will be very happy! In fact, as I said once before during my first Administration, Farmers should immediately go out and buy more land and larger tractors.<\/p>\n The deal covers Fentanyl, rare earths and critical minerals such as refined lithium used in electric vehicle car batteries \u2013 a sector in which China dominates the world.<\/p>\n China has also agreed to liberalise the sale of magnets used in everything from dishwasher doors to car window openings, he said.<\/p>\n It will also buy oil and gas from Alaska<\/strong>, Trump added.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Donald Trump<\/strong> had first laid out his intention to pursue nuclear arms control efforts in February, saying he wanted to begin discussions with both Vladimir Putin<\/strong> and Xi Jinping<\/strong> about imposing limits on their arsenals, reports Reuters.<\/p>\n Most major nuclear powers except North Korea<\/strong> stopped explosive nuclear testing in the 1990s. North Korea conducted its last nuclear test in 2017. Russia<\/strong>\u2019s last confirmed test was in 1990, followed by the last US<\/strong> test in 1992, and by China<\/strong>\u2019s in 1996.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n The reaction to Donald<\/strong> Trump<\/strong>\u2019s announcement on nuclear testing<\/strong> was swift in the US<\/strong> also.<\/p>\n Representative Dina Titus<\/strong>, a Democrat from Nevada<\/strong>, said on X:<\/p>\n I\u2019ll be introducing legislation to put a stop to this.<\/p>\n Daryl Kimball<\/strong>, director of the Arms Control Association<\/strong>, said it would take the US at least 36 months to resume contained nuclear tests underground at the former test site in Nevada<\/strong>. Kimball said on X:<\/p>\n Trump is misinformed and out of touch. The US has no technical, military, or political reason to resume nuclear explosive testing for the first time since 1992.<\/p>\n Apart from providing technical data, a US test would be seen in Russia<\/strong> and China<\/strong> as a deliberate assertion of Washington<\/strong>\u2019s strategic power. Russian president Vladimir Putin<\/strong> has repeatedly said that Russia will test if the US does.<\/p>\n In August, Trump said he had discussed nuclear arms control with Putin and wanted China to get involved. Beijing<\/strong> responded by saying it was \u201cunreasonable and unrealistic\u201d to ask the country to join in nuclear disarmament negotiations with the two countries, since its arsenal was much smaller.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summary of the talks In case you\u2019re just joining us, here\u2019s a rundown on what happened at the high-stakes talks between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in South Korea. Trump said afterwards that Washington\u2019s dispute with Beijing over the supply of rare earths had been settled, China would resume buying US soybeans and Washington would<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[7409,2153,8915,964,63,13964,132,485,3682,12938,16268,1456,81],"class_list":{"0":"post-31512","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-buying","9":"tag-china","10":"tag-dispute","11":"tag-donald","12":"tag-earths","13":"tag-jinping","14":"tag-live","15":"tag-rare","16":"tag-resume","17":"tag-settled","18":"tag-soybeans","19":"tag-talks","20":"tag-trump"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
With Justin McCurry and agencies<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nChina-US trade deal could be signed next week, US Treasury’s Bessent says<\/h2>\n
US to halt entity restrictions for one year after Trump-Xi meeting, Bessent says<\/h2>\n
Kremlin reacts cautiously to Trump’s nuclear testing remarks<\/h2>\n