U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to meet in South Korea on Thursday (October 30, 2025), on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, to hold talks on dialling down their hugely damaging trade war.
Mr. Trump said on Wednesday (October 29, 2025) that he expected a “lot of problems” to be solved with Mr. Xi. The U.S. leader said he expected their first face-to-face talks of his second term to result in the United States lowering tariffs imposed on China in relation to fentanyl.
Read more: Trump expects ‘great meeting’ with Xi in South Korea
Chinese stocks will be in the spotlight ahead of the meeting, with investors cautiously optimistic of a trade war truce that may help sustain the bullish sentiment.
The latest tit-for-tat escalations erupted earlier this month as Mr. Trump unveiled additional levies of 100% on China’s U.S.-bound exports, along with new export controls on critical software by November 1, in a reprisal against China curbing its critical rare earth exports. Mr. Trump said on Wednesday (October 29, 2025) he expects to reduce U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for Beijing’s commitment to curb exports of fentanyl precursor chemicals.
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U.S. President Donald Trump posts on the social media platform Truth Social that the “G2” is about to convene shortly, referring to his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Taiwan is “confident” in its relations with the United States, Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said today, ahead of the meeting between the U.S. and Chinese Presidents.
Since taking office this year, U.S. President Donald Trump has vacillated on his position towards Taiwan while pursuing a trade deal with Beijing. Mr. Trump says Chinese President Xi Jinping has told him he will not invade while the Republican president is in office, but Mr. Trump has yet to approve any new U.S. arms sales to Taipei.
The fear in Taipei, which has long enjoyed strong unofficial support from Washington, is that the Trump-Xi meeting in South Korea on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit could see some sort of “selling out” of Taiwan’s interests by Mr. Trump to Mr. Xi.
Asked by reporters in Taipei about the meeting and whether Taiwan could come up, Mr. Lin said the government was “of course” paying attention to the talks, and that Taiwan and the United States have close cooperation on security and other matters.
-Reuters
The trade agreement between the U.S. and China, the two biggest economies in the world, serves as a breather in an otherwise tense global trade environment.
The U.S. has agreed to temporarily lower, for 90 days, its overall tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, while China will cut its tariffs on American imports from 125% to 10%. Markets across the world cheered the announcement, jumping between 2%-3.8% following the news.
President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping today is a chance for the leaders of the world’s two largest economies to stabilise relations after months of turmoil over trade issues.
Mr. Trump’s aggressive use of tariffs since returning to the White House for a second term, combined with China’s retaliatory limits on exports of rare earth elements, has given the meeting newfound urgency. There is a mutual recognition that neither side wants to risk blowing up the world economy in ways that could jeopardise their own country’s fortunes.
In the days leading up to the meeting, U.S. officials have signaled that Mr. Trump does not intend to make good on a recent threat to impose an additional 100% import tax on Chinese goods — and China has shown signs it is willing to relax its export controls on rare earths and also buy soybeans from America.
Mr. Trump went further aboard Air Force One on his way to South Korea, telling reporters he may reduce tariffs that he placed on China earlier this year related to its role in making fentanyl.
-AP