President Donald Trump said he discussed numerous issues with Chinese communist leader Xi Jinping on Thursday, including a potential trade deal and the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump and Xi spoke for about an hour and 40 minutes in South Korea, the last leg of Trump’s weeklong trip to Asia. During the summit, Trump was joined by multiple top White House officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
“Overall, I guess on the scale of from zero to 10, with 10 being the best, I would say the meeting was a 12,” Trump said.
The president said that he and Xi have “come to conclusions on very many important points,” adding that a trade deal could be signed “pretty soon.”
.@POTUS on his meeting with President Xi: “I thought it was an amazing meeting… a lot of decisions were made, too — there wasn’t too much left out there, and we’ve come to conclusion on many very important points.” pic.twitter.com/cr81Yojr24
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 30, 2025
Here are the key points that Trump and Xi discussed:
Rare Earth Minerals
Trump secured an important win for the United States and the rest of the world on rare earth minerals, with Xi agreeing to pause export controls for one year. Trump said China’s pause could be “very routinely extended as time goes by.”
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“Now, every year we’ll renegotiate the deal, but I think the deal will go on for a long time, long beyond the year,” he said. “But all of the rare earth has been settled, and that’s for the world.”
“That roadblock is gone now,” Trump added. “There’s no roadblock at all on rare earth. That will hopefully disappear from our vocabulary for a little while.”
Tariffs and Fentanyl
Trump said that tariffs on China will be slashed from 57% to 47% after Xi promised that his country would take more action to prevent fentanyl from being trafficked into the United States.
“On fentanyl, we agreed that he was going to work very hard to stop the flow,” Trump told reporters as he flew back to the United States on Air Force One. “It’s a very complex subject because it’s used for lots of different reasons, including anesthetics and things, but he’s going to work very hard on it.”
Trump added that he is hopeful that China will take “some real action.” After Xi promised to address the issue, Trump said that his 20% tariff on China that was imposed in response to fentanyl trafficking will be reduced to 10%, dropping the overall tariff rate on the communist country to 47%, “effective immediately.”
Trump Trip to China
President Trump said he will travel to China in April for continuing talks, while Xi will visit the United States “some time after that.” Trump said he expects a trade deal with China to happen “pretty soon.”
“The whole relationship is very important, and I think [the meeting] was very good,” Trump added.
Oil and Gas
While no deal was reached on China purchasing oil and gas from Alaska during the summit, Trump said he’s optimistic that an agreement will be signed in the future. The president added that Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum will meet with Chinese officials to continue oil and gas negotiations.
Computer Chips
Xi promised to discuss the potential purchase of computer chips from U.S. tech companies, such as Nvidia, according to Trump.
“I said that’s really between you and Nvidia, but we’re sort of the arbitrator or the referee,” Trump said, adding that it would be “good for us” if China bought more chips from the United States.
Ukraine-Russia War
The ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia “came up” during Trump’s meeting with Xi, and the two leaders “talked about it for a long time,” according to Trump. Xi has been friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and China has been accused of sending military equipment to Russia during the war.
“We’re both going to work together to see if we can get something done,” Trump said. “We agree that the sides are locked in fighting, and sometimes you have to let them fight, I guess. But he’s going to help us, and we’re going to work together on Ukraine.”
China also buys large amounts of oil from Russia, but Trump said that topic didn’t come up during the meeting.
“Ukraine came up very strongly. We talked about it for a long time, and we’re both going to work together to see if we can get something done,” says @POTUS on his meeting with President Xi.
“We’re going to work together on Ukraine.” pic.twitter.com/ygzOKy9Gvn
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 30, 2025
Taiwan ‘Not Discussed’
Trump also said that Taiwan “never came up” during the meeting. Xi has long had his sights set on Taiwan, a vital island nation that currently manufactures around 90% of the world’s most advanced semiconductors.
“It was not discussed, actually,” he said.
Farm Products
Xi promised that China would purchase American soybeans, sorghum, and other farm products. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added during an interview with Fox Business that China would buy 12 million metric tons of American soybeans before the end of the year and 25 million metric tons over the next three years.
Listen to Trump’s remarks below:
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