Busan Talks Signal Trade Thaw: Trump, Xi Eye Deal as Early as Thursday

Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump met in Busan on October 30, 2025, holding their first face-to-face talks since Trump’s January inauguration.

The meeting, staged at Gimhae Air Base alongside the APEC gatherings in nearby Gyeongju, capped Trump’s Asia trip and focused on easing trade and technology tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

Trump said a trade agreement with China could be signed as early as Thursday. Both leaders struck pragmatic tones. Xi urged the countries to act as “partners and friends,” framing disputes as manageable within a broader, cooperative relationship.

Trump called Xi a “tough negotiator” and said he expected a “very successful” outcome. Earlier in the day, Trump posted on Truth Social that the “G2” would meet soon and that the United States would intensify nuclear tests, citing China’s expanding arsenal.

Talks centered on tariffs and critical-minerals controls. The trade war flared again this month after Beijing moved to widen restrictions on rare-earth exports, vital for high-tech manufacturing.

In response, Trump threatened additional tariffs of 100% and potential limits on exporting products made with U.S. software to China.

Busan Talks Signal Trade Thaw: Trump, Xi Eye Deal as Early as Thursday

Over the weekend, negotiators outlined confidence-building steps: Washington signaled a 10% reduction to some tariff lines (from peaks near 57% in certain sectors), while Beijing indicated a one-year delay to new rare-earth curbs.

China also resumed purchases of U.S. soybeans after a months-long pause, with initial cargoes reported on the eve of the summit. The agenda also included curbing fentanyl precursors and the prospective sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations on national-security grounds.

No comprehensive accord was signed, but both sides agreed to keep talking, with the White House signaling more leader-level meetings next year and Trump hinting at a possible 2026 China visit.

The Busan encounter follows progress in U.S.–South Korea trade discussions and offers a cautious opening: a truce or phased de-escalation could stabilize supply chains, temper inflation, and support growth, while failure would risk renewed shortages, price spikes, and sharper geopolitical friction.

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