United States President Donald Trump said he anticipates reaching a “great deal” with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting in South Korea this week, signaling a potential breakthrough in the renewed trade war between Washington and Beijing.
Speaking Wednesday at a business luncheon on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, Trump told attendees the United States and China are close to a trade pact that would benefit both economies.
“That’s really a great result. That’s better than fighting and going through all sorts of problems,” Trump said, adding that the agreement would be “something very exciting for everybody.”
Trump and Xi are set to hold their first in-person meeting since 2019 on Thursday in the coastal city of Busan, about 53 miles south of Gyeongju. The White House views the sit-down as a critical moment in efforts to defuse tensions over tariffs and narcotics trafficking.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he expected the deal to include lower tariffs on Chinese goods. In return, he said Beijing would take stronger action to curb the production of fentanyl and the precursor chemicals used to make the deadly synthetic opioid.
The United States currently imposes a 20 percent tariff on a wide range of Chinese imports, measures Trump has defended as necessary to pressure China to do more to stop fentanyl-related smuggling. U.S. officials have said talks also involve a possible delay to planned U.S. tariff hikes and China easing proposed export controls on rare earth minerals. Commitments by Beijing to boost purchases of U.S. agriculture are also under discussion, according to prior briefings.
Trump did not provide specifics on enforcement mechanisms or timelines for implementation.
Trump, who is finishing a six-day trip to Asia that has included stops in Malaysia and Japan, also said he expects to finalize long-running negotiations with South Korea “very soon.”
Washington and Seoul, which are treaty allies, have struggled to resolve differences over the structure of a $350 billion investment package Seoul has proposed in exchange for tariff relief. Trump praised South Korean business expansion in the United States, pointing to Hanwha Ocean’s $70 million project to expand the recently acquired Philadelphia shipyard.
“I think it’s going to be one of the most successful yards anywhere in the world,” he said.
The renewed push for a U.S.-China trade deal comes as global markets remain sensitive to disruptions caused by tariffs and supply chain rivalries between the world’s two largest economies.
Africa Digital News, New York
