Washington — President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday (Wednesday night U.S. time) as the two leaders look to reach a trade deal they can both claim as a victory.
The meeting is set for 11 a.m. local time, or 10 p.m. ET Wednesday.
Mr. Trump’s threat to impose an additional 100% tariff rate on Chinese goods starting Nov. 1 is “effectively off the table” for now, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” Mr. Trump threatened the additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports — which would bring tariffs on Chinese goods up to as high as 155% — in retaliation for China’s increased export controls on rare earth minerals and magnets. China has the vast majority of the world’s supply of those raw materials, critical for manufacturing in key technology areas like semiconductors and missiles.
The president on Wednesday said he hopes to walk away from the meeting with a deal.
“We’re going to be, I hope, making a deal,” Mr. Trump said. “I think we’re going to have a deal. I think it will be a good deal for both. The world is watching, and I think we’ll have something that’s very exciting for everybody.”
The public White House schedule allotted less than two hours for the meeting with Xi, although Mr. Trump said on a hot mic during a dinner hosted by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung that the Xi meeting would last “three to four hours.”
Aboard Air Force One on Wednesday, Mr. Trump said he believes he’ll lower tariffs imposed on Chinese imports earlier this year due to fentanyl trafficking after his meeting with Xi, noting China would be “working with me” on a compromise.
Bessent told “Face the Nation” that he expects the threat of 100% tariffs has “gone away, as has the threat of the immediate imposition of the Chinese initiating a worldwide export control regime.”
Bessent also said he expects Mr. Trump and Xi to sign a deal Thursday placing TikTok under majority U.S. ownership, although Chinese-owned ByteDance could still have a minority ownership stake of under 20%.
In August, Mr. Trump signed an executive action delaying the reinstatement of higher tariffs on Chinese goods for another 90 days, extending the pause until mid-November.
U.S. and Chinese officials have been holding trade talks for months leading up to Thursday’s Trump-Xi meeting.
Mr. Trump’s first secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said Mr. Trump should commit to Taiwan’s independence.
“Xi Jinping is expected to press President Trump for clarity about America’s stance toward Taiwan at their meeting this week,” Pompeo wrote on social media. “America should oblige — and affirm our unequivocal commitment to Taiwan’s sovereignty and independence from Beijing.”
The last time Mr. Trump and Xi met in person was on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Japan in 2019, during Mr. Trump’s first term in office, although the two leaders have spoken by phone. The last conversation the White House disclosed between the two men was on Sept. 19.
Busan, known as an educational and cultural center along Korea’s southeastern coast, is the second most populous city in South Korea behind its capital, Seoul. The Xi meeting is the final agenda item on Mr. Trump’s schedule of his five-day Asia tour, concluding a trip primarily intended to strengthen economic ties and cement trade deals in the South Pacific.
