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Trump-Xi Jinping Meeting Outcome: In a major development, US President Donald Trump has announced to reduce tariffs on China from 57 per cent to 47 per cent in exchange for Beijing resuming US soybean purchases, keeping rare earths exports flowing and cracking down on the illicit trade of fentanyl.

What happened during Xi-Trump meeting

1. Speaking aboard Air Force One after a 1 hour 40 minutes meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea’s Busan on Thursday, the US president said the rare earths issue has been settled and there would be no more roadblocks on them. When asked to rate his meeting with Xi, Trump gave "12" out of "10".

2. The meeting which marked their first since 2019, was crucial amid Trump tariff tantrum.  Ahead of the meeting, Trump threatened a huge hike that would have boosted tariffs by 100 per cent, but he told reporters he didn't need to go through with that plan.

3. Trump said a great deal of decisions were made in his summit with Xi Jinping, describing it as "an amazing meeting."

4. China will purchase "tremendous amounts" of US soybeans and other farm products "starting immediately", and a one-year agreement on rare earths has been reached which will be extended after a year, Trump said. "They're not going to impose the rare earth controls," he said.

5. Trump said he will visit China in April, Xi to visit US "sometime after that".

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Why are rare earth elements a big issue between US and China 

Rare earths, 17 elements which play tiny but vital roles in cars, planes and weapons, have emerged from obscurity to become China's most potent source of leverage in its trade war with the United States.

ALSO READ: 'Will Have Fantastic Relationship': Trump Tells Xi After Much-Awaited Meeting In Busan | Updates

Export controls introduced in April caused widespread shortages overseas, especially for magnets, forcing some automakers to pause production before exports rebounded following deals between Beijing and Washington and the European Union to free up the flow.

China expanded those controls again in October, taking the total number of elements restricted to 12 and adding much of the equipment used to process them. The expanded controls are set to come into force in early November and it is unclear whether the agreement discussed by
Trump covers the full suite of China's rare earth export controls or just the October extension.

(With inputs from agencies)

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