BUSAN, South Korea — President Trump warmly greeted Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday at their first summit meeting since he returned to the White House — telling reporters he expects to reach a “great understanding” to thaw trade tensions.
“Great pleasure to see you again,” Xi told Trump as they shook hands ahead of opening remarks at a South Korean air base after nearly a year of tit-for-tat tariff and trade escalations.
“China’s development goes hand in hand with your vision to make America Great Again,” Xi insisted at the start of their formal meetings moments later.
“Our two countries are fully able to help each other succeed and prosper together. Over the years I have stated in public many times that China and the United States should be partners and friends.”
Xi and Trump both predicted a resolution of the many issues — after negotiators hammered out a “framework” ahead of time.
“A few days ago, in a latest round of consultation, our two economic and trade teams reached basic consensus on addressing our respective major concerns and made encouraging progress,” said Xi, who went on to praise Trump for settling conflicts between Israel and Hamas and Thailand and Cambodia.
As they began their talks, Trump told the press, “We’re going to have a very successful meeting, I have no doubt. But he’s a very tough negotiator — that’s not good. We know each other well.”
US and Chinese negotiators hammered out the framework understanding during talks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, ahead of the summit.
Trump said Wednesday that he intends to cut his 20% fentanyl tariffs on China and indicated he’s unlikely to follow through on his threatened 100% additional tariff over Beijing’s new export restrictions on products made with rare-earth and critical minerals.
China, in turn, is expected to suspend the export restrictions for a year and pledge a crackdown on smuggling of the synthetic opioid, which killed roughly one in every 1,000 Americans over the past five years, according to federal data.
China also is expected to commit to resuming purchases of US soybeans after tariffing them heavily in retribution for the fentanyl levies that Trump imposed in February.
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