Trump and Xi meet face-to-face for first time since 2019 trade war. Hours after, Trump reveals the deal no one saw coming

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping finally sat down together on Thursday after six years apart. The two leaders met at a military air base in Busan, South Korea, and talked for almost two hours about fixing the ongoing trade problems between their countries.

The meeting happened while other world leaders gathered nearby for an economic summit in Gyeongju. Trump told reporters afterward that the conversation went really well and that he and Xi found common ground on most issues as per Politico. When they first met, Trump praised Xi and said he expected their countries to work together smoothly going forward. Xi agreed but noted that disagreements between the two biggest economies in the world are normal.

After the meeting ended, Trump got on Air Force One and told journalists he would give the talks a score of 12 out of 10. “It was an outstanding group of decisions I think that was made,” Trump said. He shared that he plans to lower the taxes on Chinese products coming into America from 57 percent down to 47 percent right away. Trump also said China promised to buy soybeans from American farmers again and work harder to stop fentanyl from reaching the United States. 

So what does this really mean for everyone?

This meeting matters because things between the two countries had gotten pretty rough over the past several months. Trump had raised taxes on Chinese goods to as high as 145 percent, and China fought back in its own ways. American farmers who grow soybeans got hit the hardest. They used to sell $18 billion worth of soybeans to China back in 2022, but that number dropped all the way down to just $2.4 billion in the first seven months of this year.

Trade Representative Jamieson Greer explained that most products will see the lower tax rate of around 47 percent, but some specific items could still face taxes as high as 100 percent. The special taxes related to fentanyl dropped from 20 percent to 10 percent and started immediately. Trump said China is already doing much more to fight the fentanyl problem. The tax cuts come as Trump continues to push controversial trade policies in other areas.

Xi talked about how both sides reached agreement on important money and trade questions, based on what Chinese officials said about the meeting. He wants both countries to keep working on the details and finish everything quickly. Trump said he thinks they can sign a real agreement soon. He also announced he will visit China in April, and Xi will come to America sometime after that.

This deal should help calm down stock markets and businesses around the world that have been worried about the trade fight for months. But experts point out that even though this is good news, the two countries still compete and disagree on many other things like technology, military power, and territorial disputes in Asia. Meanwhile, back home in Washington, political tensions remain high over government funding battles as Trump gets back from his trip.